Believe
by MidKnight209
Summary: Dezmond wanted nothing more in life than to become a huntsmen. He always believed that they always did what was best for the people of Remnant. That was until a mission gone wrong changed his views on what was right or wrong, good or evil. Now he doesn't know what to believe.
1. Chapter 1

**Well now I've been putting this off for a very long time, but after reading a plethora of fanfics I'm ready to give this my best shot. This is my first fic and I welcome all and any reviews. For the most part I'm going to try and keep this fic true to the canon. This will be an OC fic but teams RWBY and JNPR will play a much larger role later on in the story.**

* * *

"Well this could be going better!" I yell out loud to my teammates as I gunned down another Beowolf trying to flank us from the rear.

I hit the magazine release of DMR and slam in a fresh magazine as the empty one hits the ground.

It was our first unsupervised mission since we've joined Atlas's hunter academy. Team SLYR (Slayer) led by my mentor and good friend Robert Moss, although he just preferred Robbie. He stood all of 6 foot 7 inches tall weighing well over 200 pounds. He was a dark skinned green eyed male with short black hair on the side of his head leading to a modest mohawk. He wore a white hoodie with this sleeves cut off, on his back was assault pack filled to the brim with his linked machine gun rounds. For pants he a pair of thickly woven black jeans followed up with black steel toe-tiped boots. Besides that he wore a set of steel infused gloves to make of the lack of a melee weapon. He was at the lead of group laying into a pack of beowolves with his belt-fed LMG he modestly named 'Big Joe.'

"Keep pushing forward, they'll break and turn tail soon enough." said Robbie as he continued to dish out the pain.

"Yeah complaining isn't going to get us anywhere" said Robbie's partner Yoshimitsu.

Yoshimitsu was fighting off an ursa to the right of Robbie. He had twin katanas named 'Ghoul' and 'Wraith' that in the hilt of the blade contained a small caliber pistol. 'Yoshi' stood 5 foot 8 inches tall with lightly tanned complexion and brown eyes, he was completely bald and had no facial hair of any sort. Come to think of it he looked very much like a monk. He wore a skin-tight long sleeve shirt that clung to his thin frame. He had loosely fitting tan pants that allowed unrestricted movement followed up with white running shoes. On his back he two sheathes for his blades.

"We can do this Dez!" said my partner Fuchsia as she shifted her shotgun into a hatchet.

My partner and girlfriend Fuchsia Li was very pale cat faunus, although you wouldn't know by first glance, the only faunus trait she had was her cat like pupils of her pink colored eyes. She stood at the same height as Yoshimitsu and had long dark brown hair that flowed freely. She wore a white padded jacket-vest that was way too thick to be wearing this time of the year but it never seemed to bother her. She wore a pair of thin matching white pants that were padded at her knees with white slip-on shoes.

She sent me a quick smile before she buried a hatchet into the back of beowolf that was attempting to sneak up on Yoshimitsu. Yosh sent her a quick nod as he moved forward to help out Robbie.

As for me I was squaring off with an Alpha beowolf. We started circling each other until it let out an angry snarl and charged me head on.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me introduce myself. I'm Dezmond Slate, (or as Fuschia liked to call me 'Dez'). I'm an 18 year old second year student of the Atlas Hunter Academy. I'm a tan-skinned human from beautiful city of Atlas itself. I wore a black undershirt with a black tactical vest over it with a pair of black jeans and running shoes to go with it. I also wore a set of elbow pads and black padded gloves (being the teams sniper I had to set up in elevated locations, so the extra protection helped). I carried a DMR aptly named Snapshot, and .50 cal pistol that shifted into a falchion named simply Ripper.

I quickly dove out of the way of the beowolf's lunge and slung Snapshot over my back, I drew Ripper and fired two rounds into the left leg of the Beowolf. It howled in anger and dove at me again in sheer rage. I didn't have time to dodge this time around and I took it's tackle full force. I shifted Ripper into it's blade form and planted it into the ground to stop myself from rolling with the beowolf. My foe kept rolling but I managed to stop my progress and catch a quick break to check over myself. As I checked over myself i could feel one of was either broken or severely bruised.

"Shit" I mumbled to myself.

'I need to be quicker than that, the shit really hurt' I thought to myself as I could tell my stamina was already being affected by my shallow breathing.

'I need to end this now, I'm in no shape for a lengthy battle with beast' I steadied myself and got into a low stance waiting for the grimm to make the first mistake so i could end this. The beowolf then when for a heavy swipe with its left arm, I rolled underneath its swipe and slashed up with all my strength across its chest. The grimm recoiled in pain and i followed two slices while I spun to keep the beowolf at bay. It fell to its knees and shifted Ripper back to its pistol form and finished the beast with two shots to the head (one more for good measure).

"Dez are you okay!?" Fuchsia yelled as she came running to my side.

"Yeah I'm fine" I grunted out "I'll just cover the rear from here on out though."

"And we're clear!" belted out Robbie.

"Lightly Grimm infested village my ass! That's at least the 10th pack of grimm we've ran into today. Plus we've only been here like 4 hours, this kind of grimm activity can't be normal." I wheezed out to the team. 'Yep the rib is definitely broken, maybe more than one'

"Oh can it Slate!" Yoshimitsu called out "We can definitely use the experience."

"Yeah but don't you think this much grimm activity is odd? They'd never send a huntsman team in training unsupervised if it was this hostile a mission." said Fuchsia as she reloaded her shotgun and scanned the perimeter.

"Hey the village is up ahead, let's make communication with the townspeople and go from there." said Robbie.

We moved ahead towards the village taking our time so we could all get a little bit of a breather from fighting the grimm. As we neared the village something was definitely wrong.

"Hey where is everybody at? The town looks like its been ransacked" said Fuchsia with as a clear emotion of uneasiness spread over her features.

"Move into the first building we'll see when need to regroup and try to gather some info" ordered Robbie as he began to move into a quick jog.

We gathered into the building and started to look for any kind of clue as to whats going on in the village. We checked for any kind of note or message of an evacuation but there was nothing. Damn this isn't good, I checked my scroll to reread the mission briefing to see if I missed anything. 'Small faunus village reporting sights of grimm activity, meet with faunus in town to gather more information in order to exterminate the grimm threat.' 'Well that doesn't really give me too much, damn' It was only when I was checking my scroll that I noticed that I was getting no signal. How could they submit a bounty mission if there was no signal out here?'

"Hey Robbie, do you have a signal on your scroll?" I called out.

"Let me check" He pulled out his scroll and took a look. "No, why?"

"Well how could the village submit a bounty mission if there's scroll signal?" I asked.

"Well damn, smart thinking Dezmond. Alright everybody listen up, we need to find out why there's no signal reaching this village. According to the layout of the village there's supposed to be a communication's tower about 2 clicks to the north of this village near an abandoned military outpost. We're going to move to that location and see if we can establish communications with any of the villagers and move on from there. If we can't establish comms then I'm calling for an immediate scrub of this mission and let Atlas Academy determine the next best move from there. We move out in ten mikes. Understood!?

The rest of team SLYR nodded in agreement and started to ready our weapons and gear. I looked over to Fuchsia and I could see a look of worry on her face.

"Hey Fuchsia what's wrong?" I whispered over to her catching her attention.

"I don't know, it's just that I don't think that grimm are entirely responsible for what's going on here."

"What do you mean" I asked a bit confused.

"It's just that it didn't really look like grimm attacked the town. I mean what if it's the White Fang!? This is a faunus village."

"If it's the White Fang we will treat the criminals accordingly" Yoshimistu spat out. "I'd prefer if they were involved, kill two birds with one stone"

"Hey what's that supposed to mean!?" Fuchsia yelled out. "The White Fang are just trying to help out us faunus, even if their methods are questionable. There only trying to help."

"By attacking Atlas workers? By killing Schnee dust company associates? Their just murderers using the whole 'were helping the faunus' as cover." argued Yoshimitsu.

" **That's enough!** " barked Robbie. "Stick to the game-plan! If we encounter the White Fang we'll adjust accordingly. The villagers come second, our teams safety is my top priority. If its too hostile we pull out understood!?"

Moments later we set off towards the location of the communication's tower. Robbie took lead of the formation as usual. We were about half a click away from the comms tower when Robbie had brought us to halt.

"Hey Dezmond can you get to the top of the tree over to our right and give a SITREP" asked Robbie.

"Can do" I replied. I started climbing my way the tree, once I found a good position I unslung Snapshot and popped of my lens. I inserted my scroll into a slot i specifically built into the left side of my DMR and opened it up. It displayed data ranging from wind speed and direction to how many rounds I had left in my magazine, but most importantly it tapped into the scope of my rifle and recorded everything I saw. I scanned the area I quickly saw the the said comms tower in question. I zoomed on what looked like some sort of sparks errupting. There it was a blown fuse box on the tower, that would definitely take down our signal. But something else in the distance caught my eye, it looked like gunfire of some sort. Sure enough my suspicions were confirmed, near an outpost an there were extremely large number of grimm attacking its gates. Then I saw them. White Fang defended the walls and what looked like villagers inside the outpost trying to help. "Shit" I muttered to myself.

"Hey Dezmond what's the hold up?" yelled Robbie.

"Think fast!" I yelled as tossed down my scroll. Yoshimitsu caught my scroll and threw it to Robbie who preceded to open it up and review it with the the rest of SLYR. As I made my way down the tree I could already here Fuchsia arguing with Robbie and Yosh.

"What do you mean we're just going to fix the comms tower then call for evac!? They need help! I don't care if the White Fang is with them or not we have to protect them it's our mission right!?" Fuchsia yelled out.

"I told you already Fuchsia! Our safety takes priority! I'll take the flak over a failed mission, but I won't take responsibility for you disobeying orders and getting yourself injured or worse!" countered Robbie.

"If they want side with those murderers then they brought it on themselves." Yosh spat out.

"You're not helping Yosh." I said.

"Well I didn't become a hunter just to sit back and let people get killed when I can make a difference! Regardless of what faction they choose to align themselves with! They're still people!" cried out Fuchsia "I'm going whether you're coming or not" Fuschia then ran off towards the outpost.

"Li! Damn it. Alright let's go get the comms tower up as fast as we can and signal for emergency evac. If were lucky they'll land the bullhead at the village and hopefully bring reinforcements. Let's GO!"

"I can't. I'm going after Fuchsia I can't leave her to fend for herself. I don't care for the White Fang but I'll be damned if I let her get hurt!" I said and then I immediately took off in a sprint towards Fuchsia.

"Damn it Slate get back here! Fuck! Yosh stick to plan we're their only chance at getting out of here alive now. Let's move!"

"Got it Rob."

"Fuchsia wait up!" I yelled. Fuchsia turned around and gave me a honest smile.

"At least I can always count on you to back me up Dez" she then pulled me into a brief hug. and then looked into my eyes. "Now let's go help these villagers."


	2. Chapter 2: A Grim Threat

"Alright whats the game plan Fuchsia?" I asked as we ran towards outpost. 'There's seriously a lot of grimm, if we just go in guns blazing we're going to get surrounded' I think to myself as we get closer and closer.

"We're going to use the element of surprise! I want you to get to the tree we can find and start laying down fire. Once the grimm catch on to us I'll jump and engage them and draw more out for you snipe. From there you just keep me covered until we can push 'em back!" Explained Fuchsia as she then pointed towards a tree "There that one should be ideal."

"Well it's a lot better then what I was thinking, just... just be careful ok?" I say to her. 'I have to be on my A-game, if one my shots go wide she could get hurt or a lot worse.' "Fuchsia if this gets to out of hand you get out of there okay? I know you want to help this people but it's not worth getting killed over understand?"

"Okay.." she says to me with frown on her face. 'Damn, I know exactly what she's thinking but this wasn't the first time she's let here emotions take control of her. It looks like it's up to me to make sure she's gets back safe.'

"Alright go get in position near those bushes Fuchsia, give me a signal and once I have the grimm's attention I'll leave it up to you when you want to draw more of them out." she nods then takes off towards said bushes. I finally get to the top of the tree and unsling Snapshot. 'Alright let's see what were working with here' I say to myself as I insert my scroll into its slot and begin to scan over the scene playing out. 'Okay standard walls made out of tree logs' I see that there's about a dozen of white fang members with pretty low grade assault rifles and swords at the top of the wall trying to keep the grimm at bay. Inside of the walls I can see some of what I assume to be the villagers treating the injured, 'Damn there's at least several dozen,' looks like the townspeople were just trying to seek shelter and protection from the grimm. 'I don't understand why was the bounty just for light grimm activity? Something had to happen to rile them all up. Shut up. Focus on the mission Dez I can worry about that after we save their asses."

* * *

"...and all I need to is reconnect the ground cable... and boom" I can hear the electrical box begin to whir to life.

"We all done here Robbie?" Yoshimitsu asks.

"Yeah I'm going to try and signal our ride out of here" I pull out my scroll and with much relief i can see signal bars. I immediately call our instructor.

"This is instructor Green-Smith"

"Instructor this Moss of team SLYR, WE NEED IMMEDIATE EVAC!"

"What's going on cadet Moss, I was informed you were on a menial mission, is your team not up to par?"

"With all do respect instructor but the intel you received for the mission was bad, the mission is FUBAR! We have heavy grimm activity and the villagers have fled to a nearby White Fang established outpost. Currently Slate and Li have gone rogue and disobeyed orders, they ran off towards the village."

"I don't think I have to remind about Atlas's Academy's stance on the white fang Moss, you did the right thing in going to inform us first but any part of your team getting themselves involved is unacceptable. Your team's exfil time was set for 1800 which is not for another 3 hours, given the circumstances the best we can do is 1630, map intel is lacking for that location so we will land were we dropped you off so you can guide us in."

'Damn it's going to take at least 45 minutes to get back to our drop off location' I think to myself 'damn it Li i hoped you know what you're dragging Dez into.' "We'll be there sir." Yoshimitsu looks over to me and lets out a sigh.

"Hopefully there's less grimm on the way back" Yosh groans out.

"See you at 1630 Moss, best of luck, Green-Smith out," and with that the line goes silent.

"Well we don't time to waste Yosh, let's get a move on." I say as I break off into a run.

"Got it boss."

* * *

I'm scanning the skirmish with my scope as I see a glint of light hit my eyes. I look towards Fuchsia's position and I confirm that the glint of light is coming from her.

"Alright lets get to work" I say to myself as I zoom in on a beowolf clawing its way up one of the walls. 'Well better start by thinning out the heard.' I brace my back against the tree and steady my breathing. I take a quick glance at my scroll. '10mph wind moving southeast, target distance 1,420 meters. I hit a prompt on my scroll and second red dot appears on my down 3 mils and 4 mils left. I realign my aim and fire two quick shots. I watch as both of my rounds pierce the beowolves neck and it falls to ground clawing at its throat for a few moments and then goes still and begins to desinagrate. 'Damn I love technology.'

I slowly start to pick of beowolves one by one, each one taking two to three rounds before dropping. 'Thank Oum most of these beowolves are minors, the plating on the elders make it much harder to drop them so quickly.' After taking out another two beowolves I drop my empty mag and slam in a fresh one. 'Shit only four mags left after this one.' If this goes too much longer I'll have to go down there and handle this with Ripper. As i think this i notice the ursa start to look around in confusion as they see there comrades start mysteriously falling. 'Well no more element of surprise. I see one particular wise start to run in my general location near the bush were Fuchsia is lying in wait. It attempts to hurdle the bush instead of just plowing through it, as it is doing so it caught in the gut by Fuchsia's shotgun Ashbringer. The ursa tumbles through the air until it ungracefully hits the ground and continues to roll. The moment it stops Fuchsia leaps towards it shifting her shotgun into her hatchet and sticks it right in it's skull. 'Ouch' I think to myself but I have no time as another two ursa rush her. She shifts back into her shotgun and begins to fire.

'Well that's only going to piss 'em off, eh... I guess that's kind of the plan' I argue to myself. I aim for its lower left calf and fire off four shots. Each one hits the mark and slows it down so she can focus on the one behind her trying to take her head off. I switch targets quickly and fire three rounds into its rib. Before my rounds hit it the ursa throws a hay-maker towards Fuchsia, she quickly ducks below its massive strike as my rounds take effect causing it to over-extend. Fuchsia takes advantage of this and puts a round in face causing it to stumble backwards, 'checkmate' I say to myself as she shifts back into her hatchet and returns the favor by releasing it head from its torso. She quickly makes an about face and charges the remaining wounded ursa, she makes quick work of it with her hatchet and runs towards the outpost walls only to see it abandoned.

"The fuck?" I blurt out confused as I start scanning the area. 'I don't see anything? Where'd they all go!?' Wait a second we've learned about this kind of behavior.

* * *

"Now cadets if you ever find yourself in a situation where grimm have seemed to suddenly go AWOL this may be a trap. You see if grimm detect the presence of elder grimm nearby they will retreat in order to stay out of it's way to avoid it's anger being misplaced on them." Instructed Green-Smith. "Whatever you do never let your guard down when in comes to grim, they are merciless and waht nothing more to end your huntsmen and huntress careers early."

* * *

As these thoughts leave my head I began to see nearby tree shake and fall to the ground as something is plowing through them. The very next moment a grouping of large trees are reduced to splinters as a duo of Deathstalker Majors appear with several ursas and beowolf majors in tow.

"Ah for fuc..."


	3. Chapter 3: Desperate Times

"...k's sake." "This is bad, like reallly bad.. It's one thing dealing with dozens of beowolves and ursa, but then these guys have to come and join the party. I mean Snapshot hits pretty hard but not enough to take out these deathstalkers, maybe the ursi and the the elder beowolves with enough ammo but this is just ridiculous.' I focus my scope on the group of party crashers and notice there are about eight total, 'Okay two deathstalkers, two elder ursi, and four elder beowolves. I mean it could be worse right?

So there's two ways we can play this

A.) We take out the head honcho's being the deathstalkers and then play clean up from there

or

B.) We take out the small fry, eh.. smaller fry, and save the worst for last.

That or they all just come in charging and ruin my planning completely. 'Yeah that would suck.'

"Alright enough thinking, time for action" I say to myself as I put my cross-hairs on my first target. I put five rounds into the face of the nearest beowolf hoping to hit its eye and handicap it, finally on my 5th shot I hit pay-dirt as my round connects with its left eye as dark black grimm blood splatters against the nearby shrubbery. 'Gross.' I immediately zoom out of my scope to see how the other grimm or reacting and with a bit of luck they don't seem to know my location and the rest of the group begin to start slamming into the walls of the outpost. As much of a relief it is that those beasts aren't coming after me the walls of the compound aren't built for this kind of punishment. I can already hear the wood creaking and groaning as the deathstalkers begin to slam into them. I can see some of the white fang members begin to fire at the from the top of the walls, but their weapons have little to no effect as the harmlessly bounce of the grimm's armored plating. I look further to the south and I can see Fuchsia with her back against a tree clinging her shotgun closely to her body, I can see the weapon jittering a bit as I can tell she's shaking from fright. As much as I want to stay back and attempt to pick the guys off I'll only be able to do so much from this range. I sling Snapshot and pull out Ripper and shift it into it's bladed form, I begin to slide down the tree and about 40 feet from the ground I impale the blade into the trunk of the tree to slow my descent. I land in a roll and begin to book it toward Fuchsia's location. After a couple of minutes I finally get close to her position, as I clear a patch of head-high grass I peak out to see her still frozen in the same spot she was earlier. 'Damn it I need here to get back in this fight if we have any chance at making it out of this.

A run and grab her startling her at first but eventually she collapses into me, her breathing erratic. "Hey it's okay Fuchsia, I know scared but we can do this, but I don't have any chance without you."

"I'm sorry" she mutters out. "I should have never gotten us involved, how was I supposed to know that there would be this many, you should of just left.."

"HEY!" I raise my voice to get her focus on me "It's too late for that now, but that doesn't mean we can't fix this. You did the right thing coming here, these people needed help and we're going to give it. Don't for a second regret your decision because were not done here yet. You can regret it after we save them"

A smile comes to her face as she pulls me into a brief hug. "Your right, thanks Dez, I just froze up once I saw all those grimm."

"Alright here's what were going to do, I'm going head over to the edge of the clearing and try to pry some of the beowolves and ursi off the wall. We'll deal with the deathstalkers last, hopefully the fang members can keep them distracted. Once I pull them from the wall I want you to break from cover and we'll try to double team any off the grimm we can."

"Got it Dez" she says as she chambers a shell of Ashbringer.

I stay low and make a break for the clearing I designated directly perpendicular to the wall and about 200 meters away. 'This should give us enough room to deal with these bastards.' I slam two rounds a piece into the beowolf I wounded earlier and its buddy next to it. Both of them let out an angry howl and this catches the curiosity of one of the ursa as well. They angrily start making a beeline towards my position, I have Snapshot ready and focus on the beowolf I wounded earlier with my intent on blinding it completely. I aim for its right and steady my breath, as I exhale I squeeze the trigger and watch as the round travels through air and penetrates the beasts eye infuriating it. It rolls to the ground as it attempts manage losing one of it's senses. 'I'll finish you off later' as I focus on the second beowolf which just leaped over its wounded comrade. 'Damn it's too close to take a focused shot, time to improvise.' As quickly as humanly possible I fire the remaining nine rounds in magazine towards its legs, six of them hit their mark making the beowolf hobble ever so slightly. 'Well it's a start' I think to myself as I roll under one the beasts wild swings. I sling Snapshot and draw Ripper putting two 50 caliber pistol rounds into the back of it knee as it sends another wild swing my way. I dive back as I see one of its large claws just barely graze my temple. 'Damn a tenth of second later on that dive and my head would be rolling across the field.' as I think this to myself the beowolf lifts both of it's arms above its head and starts bring them down to finish me off in my downed state.

'Got no choice now.' I think as I cover my face and trigger my semblance. A blinding white light blasts from my body in all directions causing the beowolf to miss and hit the ground I once was as I roll away. I get to my feet shakily as the side effects of my semblance leaves me light headed and drains a good chunk of my aura, not to mention if I don't shield my eyes from it I can be effected as well(found that out the hard way), but hey it's handy when I'm in a pinch. I take quick glance to see to ursa approaching me, but in the very next instant Fuchsia jumps from a nearby tree leveling her hatchet into the grimm's back, the ursa then proceeded to let out a death-curdling roar as she dismounted its back shifting back into her shotgun and began firing.

I look back to the beowolf I blinded still clearly confused as to what just happened. I fire off the remaining five rounds into its right leg hoping to put it out of commission for good. On my final shot the beast drops to its knee as I swap magazines and shift into my falchion. 'Time to take out the trash' I think as I close the distance, the beast send two wild hay-makers in an attempt to save it existence, I dip and dodge both swings and slice three quick strikes into the beasts chest bringing it down to it other knee. In its moment of vulnerability I hop up on its back take two steps and jump up in the air towards its lowered head, I grasp Ripper with both hands and bring my blade down with all my might towards the back of its neck.

*Squelch*

I look as my blade buries its way about half-way through its neck, not enough to behead but clearly enough to sever its spine and end the elder grimm's life.

'One down, one wounded, six to go.'

I turn to see Fuchsia still engaged with the ursa, she sends another shotgun blast into the beast's chest and in return the ursa sends a paw the size of me towards her. She triggers her semblance to take three steps out of literal thin air to back-flip away from the grimm's strike. I then aim Ripper at the ursa's back and empty my full magazine into it, It didn't so much as flinch and continued lumbering towards Fuchsia more aggravated by its missed blow then my weapon. "Well fuck you too" I say as load another magazine and chamber pistol. "I'll make you pay for the blow to my pride." I spit out as I shift into my falchion as I charge the beast from behind. Fuchsia see's me approaching and gives me a smirk as she pumps her shotgun and blasts another shell into the beast in order to get its full and undivided attention. I reach the grimm's flank and give two quick slashes along it's right hind leg, the ursa the stands on it's hind legs and turns around and lets out a bone chilling roar. I immediately cover my face and trigger my semblance, the beast staggers backwards in response as I too myself try to regain my balance as I take a knee to regain my focus. Fuchsia uses the opening I created to shift Ashbringer into its hatchet form and begins to hack and slash wildly into the ursa's hind legs. The beast legs give out and it stumbles forward only to fall flat on its face. Fuchsia then uses her semblance to quickly clear the distance landed on its upper back, she then shifts back into her shotgun chambers a fresh shell and stuffs the barrel into the back of the ursa's unprotected neck and pulls the trigger. The mighty ursa major's body went limp as buckshot slam into it's brain.

" **It's just been revoked!** " she yells.

"Really Fuchsia? I say quickly following with a small chuckle. 'At least we can still have a little bit of fun during this battle of man vs grimm' I think to myself.

"Well I just thought it would help break the tensio.." she says as I notice a blur of black behind her.

"Look out!" I yell, she goes to turn but isn't quick enough as one of the two remaining beowolves slams its claw into her back sending her sprawling. "Fuchsia!" I scream out as she stops tumbling and goes still. "Oh you fucked up now!" I spit out as I fire a round from Ripper right at its face, the grimm being seasoned instinctively shielded it's face with it's arms. What it didn't expect though as it lowered it's guard was for me to be waiting in a kneel, Snapshot ready to unleash hell after I rolled back into this position. I started blasting at its legs working my way up to it's face, it staggered back from each blow until my weapon burnt through all 15 rounds of it's magazine. The beast hunched over in pain as I swapped in a fresh magazine, 'to hell with conserving ammo, you made this personal.' I fired round after round into the grimm's center mass as it weakly tried to shield itself, after 9 rounds it collapsed on its back with labored breathing. I ran up to the filth and placed shoved my boot into it's chest and fired the remaining six rounds into the beasts face. It went limp after the first two rounds but I didn't care. **No one hurts my teammates! Especially Fuchsia!**

I reloaded as quick as I could and began to run towards where Fuchsia was still laying. As I got closer I could see three large claw marks slashed into her back, they were still bleeding as large pool of blood formed below her. "Fuchsia can you hear me! You awake? I say trying to calm her.

"D.d..dez?" she whispered out her breathing erratic.

"Hey don't talk I'm going to patch you up okay." I tell her as she weakly nods in response. I pull out gauze out of one the pouches in my vest and begin to press it against her wounds. She yelps out in pain as the aura infused in the gauze begins to take effect to try to stop the bleeding, as I treat the final slash I gently lift her body in order to wrap gauze around her body to keep the dressings tight. I then carry her to some nearby cover laying her next to a tree. I kneel next to her and look at her in the eye. "Fuchsia" I whisper out.

"I..I'm Dez, I g..got careless." she manages to speak out.

"I should of had your back, I let you down... we're partners" I say as tears begin to form in my eyes. 'Damn it stay strong, stay strong for her.' I berate myself mentally.

"I'm t..tired d...dez" she barely gets out.

"Damn it Fuchsia stay awake, don't you die on me!" I yell as tears are flowing freely now. I then pull her into kiss as realize this may be the last one I ever get, as I release from here I see tears in her fuchsia eyes as gives me the biggest smile she can muster.

"P. help those Dez, I ll...l..love..."

From my kneel I fall on my ass as I see her lovely eyes go blank and lifeless, I grab my shirt sleeve and yell into muffling my rage.

" **NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!** "

'Damn it, damn it all to hell! What the hell do I do now?...'

" _help those people"_

I pick myself up from my misery and walk over to Fuchsia's still form and kneel next to her. I placed a kiss on her forehead and closed her eyes for the final time. Next to her laid Ashbringer, with shaking hands I picked her weapon along with a bandoleer of shells wrapped around her left arm. 'I'll make damn sure I'll save those people, and I'll make sure a part of you helps as well.

"I'll save you, **for her.** " I speak out loud as I pump Ashbringer.

 ***CLICK, CLICK***


	4. Chapter 4: desperate measures

**AN: Just a brief author's note before we get back to the story. After it was recommended by a friend I've changed the rating to T, I don't plan on any extreme gore (among other things) and I mainly had it up there just for the language. Also my plan is to release between 2-3 chapters a week, 4 on a really good week, until the completion of the story. I'm expecting on having anywhere from 24-40 chapters(all depending on how the story flows out.) I'm going to try to stay close to the canon but with an OC obviously things will be different. Thanks to those who've followed/favorited so far, now back to the story.**

With anger coursing through my aura I start making my way towards the wall of the outpost and the remainder of the elder grimm. I look to see that only three of the white fang members are left on the wall. 'It looks like they managed to overwhelm one of the beowolves as I see its fallen body hanging over the wall.' The remaining two deathstalkers and ursa are continuing to claw and ram into the wall, at that very moment the remaining ursa jumps onto the back of one of the deathstalkers and begins to scale the wall. The white fang members left guarding the wall seeing this abandon ship and jump off the wall and presumably retreat back to the inner ursa major then makes a leap over the wall, as it is about to clear the ursa comes flying back towards the outside of the wall crashing violently into the ground and starts tumbling. The ursa lets out a vicious roar as it probably felt that it was disrespected by whatever creature did

That is when I look up to the top of the wall and I see a very large figure standing a top of it looking down at the remaining foes. He's wearing a white collared sleeveless vest that's tucked into dark grey pants with armor plating on the sides, on his arms he has armored gauntlets with black looking tribal tattoos on his shoulders. I can't make out his face as he is wearing a white mask with red markings for eyes that leak down onto the bottom of the mask. 'Who the hell is this guy' I think to myself as I hear a deep the man in question let out a very deep chuckle as he reaches towards his back unfurling an over-sized chainsaw. 'Okay this guy is definitely one I don't want to mess with.'

He begins the rev his chainsaw and then proceeds to jump down and land in crouch on one of the deathstalkers, the beast's screeches in agitation as it try to shake creature on top of it. The grim then tries to plunge it's stinger into the offender only for the man to roll under its strike closer to towards the tail inside of the grimm's reach. Out of his crouch he spins his over-sized weapon in a full circle and leaps of the beast, the deathstalker squeals in pain as it's tail has been completely severed off.

'Well looks like I'll leave the deathstalkers to the professionals' I think as slam a shot of Ashbringer onto the back of the ursa major. It turns and starts hauling ass in my direction. 'Okay I'm not very good with a hatchet but I damn well know how to use a shotgun' I go over in my head as I start to think of how to deal with this beast. 'Okay cant use range to my advantage since Snapshot is down to it's last magazine and wont be enough to drop it, I'll just have to dodge it's strikes and keep hammering it with Ashbringer and Ripper until it falls.'

As the ursa nears me it attempts to hit me with a body slam as it dives at me. I dive forward and lie flat as it barely goes over me. I flip onto my back and put another spread into it's back as it catches itself in a roll. 'I'm just going to have to play this like a bullfighter and slowly wear this monster down.' This time it runs up to me and stands on it's hind legs and brings both of it's fists down at the ground in front of me. The only thing I can do is try to dive backwards as the ground around the impact is leveled, the mere force behind the blow sends me sprawling. Ashbringer is thrown from my grasp as I'm tumbling. 'Ow my damn ribs' I think as begin to clutch them, 'after this I'm going to take a good long blackout.' As I push myself of the ursa is walking over towards me, still on it's hind legs, thinking it's going to finish off it's prey. "I'm not dead yet Yogi" I insult him as if it can understand me. I stumble over to my right and pick up Ashbringer and pump a fresh shell. "Bring it!"

It continues it's way over me and begins to lift its arms in the air try another ground pound, 'not falling for that twice,' I think as slam to rounds into it's gut. The ursa stumbles backwards only for it to regain it's footing. It changes back into it's four-point-stance as it starts bull-rush it's way at me. I fire two more shells into it's front right leg, it tanks the rounds and tries to shoulder check as I roll out of the way. I sling Ashbringer to my chest as I draw Ripper, it pulls a 180 and charges at me once again. I fire 4 rounds at the same leg and on the fourth round it stumbles and starts to slide on the ground as it's leg gives out. The ursa pushes itself to hind legs with it's remaining good front leg and starts to walk it's way over. 'Okay its front arm is pretty done now I just have to finish it off.' I fire the remaining 3 rounds of my magazine into it's bad as insurance, it lets an angry growl as it swipes and me with it's good arm. I duck and evade to the left it's arm, I switch to my blade and jump up make two quick slashes into ribs and armpit. The ursa staggers forward and I make two more gashes into it's back just below it bony spiking. It spins around sending and elbow my way as I pancake to the ground to avoid it's blow, as I push myself up I swing Ripper into a wide arc hitting the right knee of the ursa's hind leg. 'I definitely caught a tendon on that one' I think as the creature falls to it's good knee. It uses its right paw to bring down a hammer fist as I close my eyes and trigger my semblance again. I hear the beast roar as the edges of my vision go black, I can barely see as fall on all fours doing my best to keep myself conscious. 'Damn I can barely keep myself, I can't do that again or ill surely blackout.' I hear what I presume to be the ursa fall to the ground probably just as disoriented as me.

I finally regain my footing as my vision begins to clear but still blurry as the ursa is trying to push itself up but to no avail as it falls back to the ground beaten. I change Ripper back into it's pistol form and reload, I then holster it and unsling Ashbringer. I pull out the bandoleer I borrowed from Fuchsia and load twelve more shells into it and push the slide forward. I level it to the ursa's head, "Fuchsia got me this far, and she's going to finish it" I say as pull the trigger.

 ***BANG***

I walk away as the grimm starts to turn to ash and travels to whatever hell it belongs.

I look back to the wall as I see the man finish off the deathstalker he wounded earlier. 'Damn he just ripped the grimm to pieces' as I look to see the pincers and legs of the beast begin to disintegrate. He then parries a pincer of the remaining deathstalkers and send a gash into it's arm. The deathstalker lets out a screech of pain as it backs up to size the man up, its surely not underestimating the man now as it sees what's left of it's partner. The man stands still waiting for the grimm to make the first move. I draw Ripper and fire two rounds into the abdomen of the deathstalker catching it unaware of my presence. The grimm turns toward me to see what disturbed it's face-off, as it turns the man uses my distraction to leap up and mount the grimm running his chainsaw along it's topside. The grimm shifts it's attention back to the man and attempts to knock the being that mounted with it's tail only him to meet the beast halfway send it's tail back. He attempts to bisect this deathstalker's tail as well until the grimm starts shaking violently throwing him to the ground.

'Well looks like this grimm caught on quick' I think as fire the remaining six rounds of magazine into the grimm's insectoid legs. I quickly reload and switch to my bladed form of Ripper. The man is quick to get and throws a canister to the ground at his feet. Smoke explodes from the container and he runs out of it towards my location. The grimm is lost in the smoke and it buys him time to make his escape.

"Why are you here human?" the man asks me still looking into the smoke.

"I was here with my partner, we were on a mission to clear the village area of grimm. She was a faunus and hold nothing against your people." I say to him.

"Hmph.. We will talk more after I deal with these intruders." He speaks while revving his chainsaw once more.

"Don't you mean we?" I ask he runs back into the smoke letting out a sinister chuckle. I see him leap a good 20 feet into the air before he comes to a dead-stop and rockets like a meteor back into smoke. A loud explosion rings out as all the smoke is blown away from said occurrence. As the smoke clears I see the man standing in a crater fist still connected to the ground as shattered pieces of the deathstalker begin to disintegrate around him, 'wait what!? did? did he just punch through an elder deathstalker!?' He begins to stand up as I hear the howls of beowolves. "Oh look who's back" I say in annoyance as several dozen beowolves make their way out of the surrounded brush, 'looks like now that the tough guys are out of the way you think can just come and mop us up.'

"This is all you brought!?" I hear the man yell out as he grips the handle of his chainsaw. He sends his saw in wide arc to the right halving two of them as more converge on his location. 'Well the least I can do is help thin their numbers' as I take a knee and aim Ripper at the beowolves. 'I'll just wound as many as I can and help clean up the rest.' I fire into the oncoming pack aiming for the legs of the grimm, five rounds and five clean hits later I swap magazines and shift to my blade and jump into the fray. 'Okay just dodge and counter, I'll leave it to him to finish them off.' I duck a beowolves swing and catch with two quick counter slashes before I dive out of the way of an impatient beowolf trying to hit me from behind. I stab it in it's back and quickly remove my blade and raise it to stop the claws of another beast, I go low with a spinning kick to sweep it's legs out from under it and break of in a sprint to get some breathing room. As I'm running I glance to my left to see the man send several bewolves flying with one mighty punch. Just beyond him the remaining white fang guards on the wall seem to regain new hope and begin to lay fire into the pack of wolves, their weapons are actually effective on the younger grimm and they start to drop like flies. The guards aim their weapons in my direction and immediately dive face first to the ground.

I hear dozens of dust rounds fly and whiz over my head. It isn't until I cant hear any more gunshots that I look behind me to see half a dozen beowolves lay slain and dissolving. 'These guys seem pretty well trained, thank Oum they waited until I got out of the way to start firing.' The remaining beowolves look around and see that the battle is not in the favor a begin to retreat with their tails tucked between their legs. The guards then begin to fire their weapons in the air out of celebration as slowly pick myself up clutching my torso in pain as my ribs sure have taken one hell of a beating today.

I start hobbling my way over towards the man with saw still standing in the field, 'suck it up Dez, I can't look weak in front of this guy or he could kill me here, he's still an enemy.' I take a deep breathe and grit my teeth as I straighten out my step. He motions me over to himself. "We'll talk more inside human" as he points to the gate of the compound.

"Yeah just give me a second" I say as he continues towards the wall, the gate starts to creak open and then falls over completely as the damage it took was to much for it. I make may way over to where Fuchsia lays, damn lost in blood-drunk for her revenge it hits me again what I lost today. Fresh tears fill my vision and spill down face as I pick her up in a bridal carry and make my towards the gate. Once I reach the outpost I see where some villagers are currently treating wounded and gently lay her down next to fellow fallen. The man is there as well talking to the wounded and see's me lay Fuchsia down.

He walks over to me and throws a hand on my shoulder. "Was this your friend" he asks.

"Fuchsia Li, her name was Fuchsia Li" I speak out in almost a whisper.

"I'm sorry for your loss. She was weak though, if she wasn't she'd be beside you still." He says.

I shove his hand off my shoulder as I stand back up ready to fight. "What the hell did you just say" I yell at him fists clenched.

"I do not mean it as an insult. I was simply stating a fact, in this world we live in us Faunus have to bring strong, for if you are weak you die. It's the cold hard truth living out here outside of the kingdom. We must train and fight to survive out here, we do not have the luxury of a choice. It's fight or die." I look to him anger slightly residing. "I would respect you hunters if you were not my enemy, what you do is respectable, protecting the weak so they have a chance to become strong and protect themselves one day. But alas I am grateful for you helping my people today, for that reason I will not kill you, but i simply can not let you go either."

"What do you mean you can't let me go!?" I raise my voice as start to motion my hand towards my holstered Ripper.

"There is no need for that" He says as he clearly see my intention to raise arms. "I have no use for your kind, but I know some one that could benefit from your skill-craft." He then pulls out his scroll and makes a call, as he hangs up he begins to speak again. "I implore you to take my offer."

"Don't really have much of a choice do I? It's either I go along with your intentions or try to make it back to civilization through grimm infested forests." 'I sure as hell aren't going back to them, those cowards if they just came with she could still be here, at least they could of treated her sooner and save her life that way, but no, they took the easy way out. That's why I won't forgive them.'

"I have bullheads that will be here in the next ten minutes, they are going to come reinforce the area and help these people back to their feet. One of them will take you to my contact, from there you are on your own. I will leave it up to him on what he does with you."

"Okay just let me have a minute alone okay?" I say as he nods in response. I walk over to Fuchsia and look upon her one last time, "hey... I-I'm s-sorry. I wasn't fast enough, I wasn't s-smart enough, I wasn't strong enough." as speak to her as tears begin to fall anew "I'll keep training, fighting until one day I can be that person that can protect those who couldn't protect themselves, until that day I keep moving forward. For you. For us." I reach down and pull her serial tags from her neck 'gone but never forgotten' I think to myself as I lay Ashbringer back into her possession.

I begin to make my way over to the now landing bullheads, I see the man talking with some of the fresh white fang members giving out orders. I walk over to him "Hey I never got your name."

"Call me Bane."

"Hey also who is this contact I'm meeting." I ask as he hasn't informed me.

"He goes by Roman."


	5. Chapter 5: Negotiations

I made my way up the ramp of the bullhead, I took the seat nearest to the ramp and slowly slumped into it. 'This was arguably the longest and worst day of my life...' I reached into one of my many vest pockets and pulled out a small pill bottle. 'Aura-booster, numbs pain while jump-starting aura levels.' I dry swallowed three of the pills and slumped my head back to the wall of the bullhead. 'Where do I go from here? I'm done with my team, I could never trust people who would just take the easy way out, they just left those people, their teammates to die. I guess my dream of becoming a huntsman is in serious jeopardy now, I'm sure huntsman academy's don't tolerate quitters. I guess I could try becoming a solo huntsman, still though... I don't think I'm ready for that kind of life, hell I still have a long way to go in my training. My safest bet is going to have to be whatever this Roman guy can do for me.'

I looked down to the newly hanging set of ID tags around my neck. 'Damn I miss her already, she'd know what the next step to would be, she's always was the one that came up with the plan, I just made sure it ran smoothly.'

'But you didn't this time did you?'

'I guess there's nothing more I can do now then to just look around. It's better then just wallowing in my misery.' I thought myself as I looked around the ship's cargo. I walked up to crate and looked it over, it had Schnee dust company labeled and opposite sides.

I took out Ripper an used the blade to pry open one of the sides, inside were dozens of briefcases that fell out as I open the side. "Shit!" I cursed under my breath as I quickly re-stacked the cases. I took one out from the top and opened it, inside were varying types of dust crystals. 'Who needs this much uncut dust? Were they planning on refining and selling it themselves? This doesn't make sense, I'll be sure to keep this is mind when I talk to Roman.' I closed the case and set it back among the others as I then closed up the crate.

'I wonder where we're going anyways? He never did tell me, I should ask someone from the crew.' I walked through an automatic door and it led to were two crewman were sitting, one asleep, it looks like the next door leads to the pilot's deck. "Hey where are we going?" I asked one of the men who were both in white fang gear.

"Southern Vale." The man sitting on the left spoke out. "Should be another couple of hours before we arrive, I'd take this time to catch some z's" as he sent a thumb in the other man's direction.

"Okay thanks." I said with a wave as I made my way back towards my seat. 'Whelp may as well try to follow that man's advice as I sat down and closed my eyes.

I woke later as I can only guess our decent has started as the ship started to shake and rumble a bit. I patted down myself as I made sure I had all my gear on me. 'Ripper check, snapshot check, ID tag...tags check. Okay good to go as I grabbed the handle near my head to help stabilize myself for the landing. The bullhead landed smoothly as the bay door began to open. As it opened several more white fang members were waiting to unload the gear as the ramp lowered. One particular member wearing a grey mask with glasses over them walked up to me. "Hey are you the guy Lt. Bane said was coming with the gear?"

"Call me Slate." I say as I hold out my hand to shake his, he takes and shakes firmly.

"The name's Perry, I heard what happened at Camp Phoenix, I appreciate you helping out. I have family that lived in the village near it, I guess not all humans are rotten."

'I just did what I could" I explained while giving a shoulder shrug.

"Come on our contact wants to speak with you." He told me while motioning over in his direction for me to follow. I scanned over the what appeared to be the outskirts of Southern Vale, we were walking towards what looked like a large factory building. We were also what appeared to be some docks as I could see boats sailing on in the distance.

We entered through a large door and made our way towards what looked like offices. As we entered I saw a red-headed man in a white trench-coat esq suit wearing a black bowlers cap. He was scanning over a map of Vale with various symbols and markings littered over it.

"Sir" Perry said as he came to a stop. "You wanted to see him?" as he motioned a thumb my way.

"Ah, what do we have here?" Roman asked with a bit of showmanship. "You may leave us, I wish to speak with him in a private manner. Cole nodded and exited the room just to the two of us.

"Dezmond Slate. Hunter in training attending Atlas's Hunter Academy, member of team SLYR, and apparent savior of Camp Phoenix." Roman spoke out still looking over the map.

'How does he know so much about me? Who exactly is this man?' I think to myself as he starts to speak up again.

"Well, where are my manners? The name's Roman Torchwick, I'm in charge of this joint operation you see before your eyes."

"How much do you know about me?" I speak out still weary of the man.

"Oh kid there's nothing to worry about, It's my job to have info on everyone I'm working with. Or... against." as he says this he grabs a cane that was leaning against the wall near the map. "Relax I'm not going to threaten you, besides you wouldn't be here if you weren't at least somewhat interested in what I had to say to you."

"So what exactly are you getting at Roman?"

"Well I could always use an extra hand overseeing my operation I have running in Vale."

"And what kind of operation is that?" I ask still unsure whether to trust him or not.

"Well currently I'm in joint operation with our pals in the White Fang, you see I provide them with information to acquire dust from shops, shipping crates, wherever the get their hands on it. In return I supply them with military spec equipment: weapons, mechs, whatever they may need. You're familiar Atlas tech so I'll leave it to you as to what I can supply them with."

"Why?"

"Oh that's easy kid. Power. You see I get a boatload of dust for my employer and they get what they want. You know how it is in Remnant kid, you know how Faunus are treated. Well they have finally have had enough of it and the Fang wants to action. I don't exactly see eye-to-eye with how our government is running things so I'd like to sit back and watch it all play out." He then began to walk up to me and grabbed me the shoulder. "Look I heard you weren't alone out there trying to defend that camp." I lowered my head as he said that and nodded.

"Yeah... I wasn't" 'Fuchsia...'

"Now tell me how that made you feel kid, abandoned by the other members of your team, not to mention the terrible intel giving to you by your academy that's sworn to protect it's citizens, but not it's hunters." I remained still as I let the the words he told me mull over in my head. 'They left us there to die, what kind of "hunters" are they really? Maybe this whole hunter thing is just a load a bull, everyone is just in for their own sake.' "Now think about how these Faunus feel, abandoned by the rest of Remnant, hell even imprisoned just because they were different."

"I want you to work for me kid, you have potential, but potential can only go so far in it's raw form. I can turn you into a true fighter for the people. That's what you want is isn't it? Hell not to mention how much lien you'll be making."

"What would you have me doing?" I ask still unsure If this is where I want to take my career, it would be hard becoming a huntsman again after this. I could certainly be doing a lot worse but the members of the White Fang were still wanted criminals.

"Well for starters I'll have you undercover, I'll send you on a couple of lower tier operations to get you up to speed. You're mainly going to be hitting up dust shops or just providing cover for them if anything gets to out of hand. But for this you're going disguised as part of the White Fang. I can't have you blowing your identity, right now you're a wild card. Hell I could use you just showing your presence during White Fang rallies, they'll see your gear and think your some White Fang big shot. Your pretty much going to be a jack-of-all-trades to me kid."

"I'm not sure what to say... I mean the Fang are wanted criminals, what happens if we get caught."

"That's where your potential comes in kid. I've heard what your capable of, think of these first couple of missions as your resume. If you don't like what were doing you can up an leave, just like that, no strings attached. But... something tells me this is what you want to do. You want a mission, you want a cause you can rally behind, you want purpose. Here's my number kid" he says as he slides a piece of paper across the table to me. "I'll give you some time to think over it, let's call it two days and you can call me with your answer."

"No."

"Shame.. You had a lot of potential kid-" Roman begins to speak but I interrupt him.

"No, I don't need two days. I'll do it." 'He's right, I want something I can believe in, to fight for. I'd be a fool not to take his offer. It's not like I have a plan B.'

"We're going to go far kid" replies Roman as he let's out a chuckle.

I walk and shake his hand as in any business deal, he removes his glove like a true professional.

"So.. Where do I start?"


	6. Chapter 6: New blood

I hunched over a table as I looked over my new gear. It's been two days since I shook hands with Roman and agreed to be his hired help. 'I guess the makes me a mercenary huh?' I think to myself as several White Fang members enter the room I'm in.

"Um.. sir the mission starts in twenty minutes." A larger member of the groups speaks out. He has tusks that protrude from his jawline and wrap around his mask.

"Alright we're having a mission brief in the bullhead bay in 10 minutes, and call me Slate." I speak to him as I begin to collect my gear. They nod in approval and exit the room. On the far left edge of the table is my sniper rifle Snapshot freshly cleaned and ready to go. Next to it my new wardrobe. There are black padded pants that are definitely rugged-ized to take a beating, laying beside that is a black sleeveless hoodie made to be worn underneath a white vest. I swapped out their vest and instead I'm wearing my black tactical vest but on the front left I've sewn in a red white fang patch. Finally last but not least is a full face mask, instead of it being the standard grey half-mask I've custom made this one. I spray painted it a deep black and running across it are three red slashes I took from the design of the white fang emblem. 'If I'm going to play the part I might as well look the part.'

I quickly change into my new clothing and then throw in my mask. The mask hinders my vision a bit but during my first year at Atlas we were trained to fight in mask in the case of enemies using chemical attacks so I'm familiar to the annoyance. I check my scroll quickly '17:17 cool, still got three minutes until the briefing.' For my first mission Roman has everything set up, but he wants me to lead it to see how I react under pressure. I quickly pat myself down to make sure I have everything and make my way to the briefing.

As I walk into the bay I see two four-man teams gathered around a table looking at a map. As they see me enter they all stop and move to attention. 'Man Roman was right, I haven't even made a name for myself yet but as soon as they see the gear they think I'm some White Fang hotshot.' "As you were. No need for the formalities brothers." I bullshit out. 'Man their eating it up, I guess their pretty much a paramilitary unit but they don't seem too far of as how would Atlas soldiers behave. I was just a hunter int training back in Atlas but now I'm practically a White Fang lieutenant now, I could get used to this.' "Alright I'm going to keep this brief. Our objective is hitting small dust holding bank, it's privately owned and before you ask no it's not own by the Schnee's." I speak out as I hear a couple growns and 'awws.'

"Brothers we will start this mission by dropping from our bullhead from 100 meters out, It will be a quick fly-by as to remain as discreet as we can to start the operation. It will be a two blocks away from the target building, which I will go over momentarily." As I'm talking a point out the the drop-off point on a city map. "Once we land we will split into two teams, Red Team and Black Team. We'll split up and go to our assigned locations in order to breach the building."

I step over to the map of the holding bank and point to the building in question. "This building is our objective, red team" I point to the group to the left all wearing red band over their left bicep used to help identify teams. "You will enter through the front doors, I will accompany you as we hold up the tellers and disarm any guards present, our mission will be crowd control." I say as two of the larger members start cracking their knuckles in approval. "Black team" I speak as I point to the remaining members with black bands. "You will pick the lock to the door and enter through the rear entrance. Remember we are waiting on your signal as soon as the door is picked signal us and we will move in. Once you enter you will immediately make your way to the the employee only staircase, the basement level is where they hold the majority of their uncut dust supplies. You'll each load up both of your duffel bags with the uncut dust. Once that is handled you'll high tail it back out of the building the way you entered. As you leave black team's leader will throw his smoke canister giving us the signal to bail."

"Red team, once the signal to exit is given you will each use your one smoke canister as well and we'll smoke the place out. We exit through the rear entrance as well. Once we've all made it out the back we will navigate through the alleys until we reach this manhole, we will all enter the sewer system from here and follow the designated route back until we reach here" I say pointing to a second map of the sewer system. "We'll exit here and get topside, we'll have a bullhead waiting here to extract us. This area is near the harbor so we'll blend in with the construction crews that use bullheads to move equipment."

"Also, thanks to the cooperation of our joint business partner I was given a piece of equipment that will make this operation run a lot smoother." I walk over to a table near the edge of the room with a military grade hard-case on it. I unlatch the locks on the case and pull out what looks like a radio with antennas littering it. "This is a signal jammer, it will block any incoming and outgoing signals within a 400 meter radius, the moment black team gives me the signal that they breached the rear entrance I will activate the jammer. This is the main reason we are using smoke signals, plus the added concealment it will provide once we leave the building."

"Listen up brothers and sisters, after this mission word will be sure to spread out of the White Fang taking action in Vale. Now this is a double-eged sword. On one side we will attention and recognition us faunus has always deserved." 'Sure I'm not a faunus but it's probably better if I just keep that Roman an I's little secret.' "But on the other side this will only make it more difficult in our future operations throughout Vale as the police and maybe even huntsman will be trying to stop us. I for one say bring it! The White Fang is strong and ready to accept any challenge thrown our way. Are you with me my brothers and sister!?"

"Yeah!"

"Let them come!

"For our kind!" I hear them yell out, 'good to see I have a motivated team behind me.'

' _unlike the ones that left you.'_ I shake my head of these thoughts and put my focus back to team in front of me.

"Good now are there any questions?" I ask and scan over the 8-man squad, 'good it looks like everything is good to go.' I think to myself as anyone has yet to speak out. "Good we board the bullheads in five." I order out as the members file out of the war-room towards the bullhead.

Just then I get a notification on my scroll. I slide it open to see it's a message from Roman.

 _"Good luck on the mission kid, remember I'll be watching."_

'Great, no pressure.' I think to myself as I close my scroll back up and slide it into my pocket.

I'm the last one to arrive to bullhead as I begin to walk up the ramp. "Are we ready brothers" I say to my squad as I get a series of 'yes sirs' and nods. I walk up to the cock-pit and knock on the door to signal the crew. "Close her up we're good to go." As I make my way back to the seat closest to the ramp door I unsling Snapshot and sit down buckle myself into the harness. I slide in a magazine and chamber a round. 'Showtime.'

* * *

 **Achievement unlocked: Post new chapters on back-to-back days. Hey peeps my plan was to make this chapter longer but I've decided to break in up into several parts as I wanted to post another chapter today. I hope to have to part two of this chapter up by Sunday but who knows it could come sooner. Maybe. Anyway hope you enjoyed a bit of a setup chapter, shout out to any favs/follows I've gotten. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	7. Chapter 7: Trial by fire

I looked over my squad as we were currently flying through Vale towards are drop-off point. They were currently looking over their respective weapons and gear. Red Team was outfitted with three rifleman and the last team member carrying two standard dust-operated pistols, they were standard White Fang weapons but it will be more than enough for this job. Black team on the other hand kept it as light as possible so they could carry as much dust out as they could, they either carried a single dust pistol or blade on their hilt similar to a katana. I myself checked my ammo, for missions against human opposition I had specifically made dust rounds. The rounds were infused with lightning dust and when they struck a target they stunned and disabled them, they were a bit expensive but were worth the lien as they were non-lethal. As I chambered a round I heard a voice come over the intercom. "ETA to drop off is 2 minutes, ramp door opening."

As we heard the co-pilot over the com the door slowly opened, a gust of wind hitting us as we looked out the horizon. It was dusk outside, the setting sun spilling light throughout Vale. It was really quite a beautiful sight but I didn't have time to bask in the moment as our drop-off was approaching. "Alright Black, Red Team set up for hard landing." I order out as I take my place on the right side of the open door, I was gripping Snapshot tightly as I prepared for the descent. Behind me is Red Team and on the opposite wall Black Team is formed up. "Alright everyone on my lead." I call out as the bullhead descends as it lowers it's speed to help our landing. 'Alright on three. One... two... three.'

"GO!" I yell out as I take two steps and jump out of the bullhead.

The wind is deafening as I hit the side wall of the alleyway. I stick out my right hand and leg against it to help slide down it, twenty feet from the ground I plant my right foot against the wall and push off towards the middle of the alley. As I push off a roll forward and tuck in my left shoulder as I shove Snapshot into my gut, as my shoulder makes contact I roll forward until my feet make contact and shoulder my sniper rifle as I scan over the alleyway. 'Front is clear' I see as I pull an 180 and check our rear. As I scan my Red and Black team land in a roll. "Is everyone up?" I call out.

"Red Team up!" Yells the team leader.

"Black is good to go sir!" Yells Black Team's leader.

"Solid copy! Black Team move into position! Red Team on me!" I order out as Red Team gathers on my position. "Alright Red I got point." I say as I move to the front of the group and break into a light jog towards the objective. I come across the end of the alley and take cover against the wall, Red Team following suit. I poke my head out and check both sides of the street. 'Clear.' "Alright move across the street to the alley on my mark. I wait a couple of seconds to make sure no one is around "Mark!" I stay against the wall with Snapshot drawn to cover my team as they cross the road, as the last team member crosses I too run into the alleyway. Again I take the lead picking up to same pace I had earlier as I lead us through several more streets. After roughly five minutes of navigating the back streets we neared our objective.

I slid open a window of a foreclosed building and vaulted in, Red Team followed suit. I run up a stairway to the second floor and find a window over looking the holding bank across the street. I take aim with Snapshot and survey the building. 'Alright two armed guards standing on each side of the front doors, each carrying standard police issued dust rifles. Okay one security camera above them, I'll take that out first then hit the guards while their distracted. Once the guards are down we'll move in.' "Hey Brick hand me the case" I say as Red Team's leader pulls of his back pack and opens it revealing a small hard-case, he tosses me the case and I pop it open revealing a barrel attachment for Snapshot. The attachment in question is a silencer for my weapon that utilizes air dust to muffle and disperse the energy created from my weapon greatly reducing the sound,unfortunately it greatly reduces the effective range of my rounds. I remove said attachment from the case and slide it on my muzzle until it makes a small clicking sound and pops in. "Alright wait for the signal Red Team." I speak out towards the members standing along side me. "Once we have the signal I'm going take out the surveillance camera and then the security guards. Brick once there down you take point and breach the front doors, the rest of you follow him in and I'll be right behind you." 'I don't like to lead from the rear but it's unavoidable this time.' I think to myself as Red Team approves of the plan. "Alright head to the first floor and wait until the guards are down."

I slide my scroll into the insert on my rifle and expand it as I take aim once again. At 200 meters this is a cake walk as aim my cross-hairs, now centered on the camera. I steady my breath regardless and await the signal, just then my scroll lets out 'ding' and I squeeze the trigger. The window shatters as my round travels through it, a few milliseconds later my round pierces the camera sending glass and metal to the ground as it's torn to pieces. The guard to the right looks up towards the disturbance, as he looks towards the guard I fire again my round striking him in the chest. I quickly shift to the remaining guard and fire a third time hitting him center-mass, my rounds take effect as they hit the ground convulsing slightly due to the dust. The moment the second guard hit the ground the members of Red team burst out of the floor below me in a rush towards the entrance. I quickly remove and pocket my scroll and take two steps back, I then rush forward head down as I burst through the window and land in a roll and take of in a sprint a few paces behind Red Team.

A few seconds later we reach the front door and Brick lowers his shoulder and takes the damn thing off the hinges as it then shatters in splinters against a wall opposite to it in the bank. 'Im not sure if that's his real name or nickname by the way he took the door out. Probably both.' "Everyone on the ground!" I hear him shout out as he fires a couple rounds into the ceiling. A half dozen of customers in the store hit the ground in a panic as they are now involved in a robbery. Two security guards round the corner weapons raised prepared to fire, I out of instinct put a round into each of them and they hit the ground convulsing and go still. One of the members of red team tosses me the jammer and I set it on the ground. I quickly turn one of the knobs and then flip three switches and the jammer is active.

"Alright listen up, unless you to end up like those two gentleman I don't suggest you try anything stupid! If you want to be a hero you can die like one too!" I yell out to anyone in earshot. 'There just out cold but they don't know any better.' I think to myself as I walk over to the tellers. I pull out vial shaped like pod and hand to the teller, "Uncut dust, fill it." I order as my team follow suit with pods of their own. 'So far so good' I think to myself as the teller walks over to the dust dispenses mounted on the wall and begins to start filling the pods up. After about a minute she returns with the pods and forks them over. I slide the clip of the vial on my belt and secure it as my team does the same. We then spread out across the bank floor and await the signal to exfil. At that moment I hear muffled gunfire from the floor below us. 'Damn there must of been more guards.' I ran over to Brick and whisper to him, "Brick you have command, I'm going to check what's going on."

"You can trust me sir." He replies.

I take off running towards the stairway, opting to forgo the stairs I jump over the railguard. As I land I see Black Team pinned down by what seems as almost continuous gun-fire. I run up to them and take cover beside one of the vault door across the hall from them. "What's the situation!" I yell out over the gunfire.

"They have Atlesian knights sir!" Black Team's leader yells back to me. "We weren't equipped with the firepower to take 'em out!"

"Okay on my signal make a break for my position." I replied.

"What's the signal!" He yells back.

"You'll know!" I reply as I pull out my smoke canister and pull the pin. I canister's spoon handle with my left hand and flinged it towards the gunfire. As it was hurling through the air I fired the remaining ten rounds of my magazine as fast as I was physically capable of. The rounds pulled the attention of the knights gunfire, then my canister detonated smoke bellowing out of it. Soon the gunfire stopped as the robots can't see their target. As the gunfire stopped Black Team hauls ass towards me and slides behind the door.

"You really our ass there sir!" Black Team's leader tells me out of breath.

"I'm not done yet." I say as I sling Snapshot and draw Ripper in it's bladed form. "Our objective is behind them." As I take off towards the Knights.

" **CHANGING OPTICS** " I hear one of the robots drone out as they start to fire again.

I channel my aura into my legs and leap as high as I can up and behind the three knights. As they rotate their bodies and take aim I close my eyes and release my semblance.

" **CHANGING OPTICS. CHANGING OPTICS. CHANGING OPTICS.** " The robots drones out as it attempts the clear it's vision of my semblance. I shake my nausea and run towards the closest knight.

" **CHANGING OPT** -"

 ***SHINK***

My blade removes the knights head from it's shoulders as the robot falls to the ground with a 'thud.' As the smoke clears the two remaining knights look to it's fallen knight and then to each other, there machine guns on their hands retract and then blades take their place. They run at me simultaneously and a roll back to create space. I then shift to my pistol form of Ripper and release all seven rounds of my magazine into the chest of the first approaching knight dropping it. As I shift back to my blade the last knight slashes with right bladed arm and lean back and to the left to avoid it, it follows with a left slash and shift and lean right to avoid it as well. It comes back with another right but this time I meet it's blade with mine and I crouch down to avoid it's following left combo and I catch it across the torso with a spinning slash. My blow leaves a gash in the knight but as it feels no pain in continues to attack me. I begin blocking it slashes as it seems to keep just alternating slices from each arm starting with it's right arm. I catch on to it's routine and when it comes with another right I go wide left evading it, I return with with backhanded slash removing it's arm. When it comes to hit my with it's left I swing with all my might to block it's strike. We meet blades the knights arm recoiling from the force of my blow, I use the opening I created a shove my blade deep in chest and I pull up and out splitting the robot's head in half.

"Clear!" I yell out as Black Team comes out of cover. "On the double everyone, we're behind schedule now and the bullhead has orders to leave without us if we miss exfil time!"

"Go go go!" Black Team's leader yells out as he runs towards the vault door. He takes a charge out from his duffel bag attaches it to the doors locked handle. He pulls a pin on the charge and steps back, the charge begins to glow bright red and then starts 'fizzing.' After a couple of seconds the charge stops glowing. He then takes his katana and removes the charge from the lock revealing a hole burnt through it. 'Burn charges sure come in handy.' I think as he pushes the vault door forward now unlocked.

Black team runs in duffel bags in their hands as they start to fill their larger pods with the uncut dust. They insert the pods into the dispeners wait impatiently as the pods slowly fill with dust. After a couple minutes the nine duffel bags are filled to the brim with the dust pods and we make are way out of the vault. "Alright let's go we're still behind schedule." I ay as one of the members of Black Team hands me second duffel bag. I holster Ripper and unsling Snapshot, loading a fresh magazine and chambering a round. I then load shoulder the bag on my back and make my way up the stairs.

As I reach the top I grab my spare smoke canister and fling it towards the center of the bank. As it 'clinks' against the ground Red Team sees my signal they grab the jammer and take off towards the rear entrance. I make my way out of the doorway and Black team is waiting spare bags in hand ready to hand them off to Red Team. As Red Team exits they grabs the bags and shoulder them without breaking their pace. Black Team follow behind them as we make our way towards the manhole. After we clear the second alleyway we see the manhole in the middle of the street. I lean out checking for anyone around, 'clear left, clear right.' "Alright lets go!" I yell out. Brick unsheathes his katana and uses it to pry open the manhole and then jumps down. Black Team jumps into the sewers as I can hear sirens in the distance. "Red Team on the double, move" as they practically dive head first into the manhole. As I jump onto the ladder the descends into the sewers I can hear the sirens getting very close, I pull the manhole cover above my head sealing it once again. I jump off the ladder down into the sewers, I hear the sirens pass overhead and continue down the street. 'Damn that was too close.' I think myself as I can't believe we got away with it.

"Hey Brick, jammer." I say as he hands me the jammer. I flip the the switches downward and turn the knob and the jammer deactivates. I pull out my scroll and check the time. "Alright we three-and-a-half miles to go to the exfil point and we have 23 minutes. Let's hustle or were sneaking through a city full of cops back to base." I order out as my squad begins to hustle through the sewer system with me navigating. 'Shit I can't see anything down here, I just need to stay close the my squad because I'm basically running blind, at this point I'm using my scroll as a dim light. 'Good thing faunus have night vision or I'd be up shit creek without a paddle,' almost too literal in this case. After twenty minutes of running we get to the manhole we need to enter the surface from.

Brick climbs the ladder and lifts up and pushes aside the cover and looks out. "Were clear." He says as he climbs up. I'm the last to exit and I pull out my scroll to check the time.

 _'19:08'_

"Alright we got two minutes to spare, pickup's just around the corner let's go!" I says as I take the lead, I run around the corner and I can see the harbor as we approach the pick up. I look to harbor as I see a bullhead flying low, maybe twenty feet off the water. After following for about a minute approaches us and pulls a 180, with its ramp door already open we jump off the docks edge into the hovering aircraft. I look back to check to see my eight squad members start to take their seat. I run up to the cockpit's door and bang twice on it.

"PUNCH IT!" I yell. The bullhead begins to ascend as the ramp door closes.

"A job well done brothers! First order of business: Showers!" I order as my squad laughs and few 'thank Oum's' are said amongst them. "At 20:15 we'll meet to debrief, got it?"

"Yes sir!" They say in unison.

As I'm done with my small speech my scroll begins to ring, I look to the screen and Roman's ID comes up as the caller. "Yes Roman?" I speak into my scroll.

"Good job kid, you've exceeded my expectations. I can't tell you how many times I've had partners blow their first mission and end up in jail or even killed." He tells me over the scroll.

"Just had a couple of snags, nothing my brothers couldn't handle." I reply

"Your brothers eh? Funny name for a bunch of animals." He says smugly.

"Roman..." I reply with a bit of hostility.

"Yeah yeah yeah, just messing with you kid. Ease up a little, your new role as leader's getting to you a bit huh?"

"What did you call for?" I ask still a bit annoyed at his remark.

"Business first, I like it kid. Anyway... A rather good opportunity may have just fallen into our laps kid, and by judging by how you did on that mission I want to acquire your skill-set to help over-watch this operation I'm on."

"So we'd be working together?" I ask

"Right-o, I thought would be a good opportunity to see your skills put into action. Now you won't be leading this mission as clearly that will be left to me. But I want you to oversee it and make sure it runs as smooth as possible. I don't have all the details at this moment. But... I can give you some of the information."

"Okay shoot."

"Schnee Dust Company is importing a rather large amount dust in the harbor of Vale. We're going insure that it goes off the books. This can push forward our operation tenfold kid, so I want this to run without a hitch. You in?"

'Schnee's huh? Those Atlas assholes that discriminate against my teammates. Perfect.'

"I'm in."

* * *

 **Three-peat! Once I started this chapter I couldn't stop until it was finished. Out of all the chapters I've written I have to say this one just flowed out the smoothest. It will probably be a week before I have time to get another chapter out. But I get holiday leave for three weeks after so I'll have a plethora of writing time. Thanks for all the PM's I've gotten so far, the positive response is the main reason I've been churning out chapters so quickly. Also if you guys haven't seen the new RWBY episode all I have to say is "damn." Anyways until next time. -MidKnight209**


	8. Chapter 8: The Gameplan

"So when's this operation taking place?" I ask Roman as we look over a map a Vale. It's been three days since we hit up the dust holding bank. It was a bigger take than expected and everyone was happy with that. But something didn't add up, why were there Atlesian Knights at the bank. Sure the holding center ties with Atlas but never did they employ the use of military technology. Something fishy is going on and they needed to get to the bottom of it.

"Saturday kid, just got some new information that you might like to hear." Replied Roman.

"Go on."

"Well it looks like the shipment is going to be even bigger than I expected, and that means your going to have a bigger part. At first I just wanted you to be on the ground to keep the White Fang members focused on the mission, but seeing that the dust shipment is as big as it is I'll handle that."

"So what's my part going to be?" I question.

"Well since the shipment is as large as it is I want you on security kid. Sure I'm going to have a large number of Fang members there as well but I want quality over quantity in this one kid. Due the scale of this operation there is a chance we may have resistance. I want you to find an over-watch position where you will recon the area before the shipment arrives and give me a head's up. I want this to go smoothly kid, can't afford to blow a golden opportunity like this now can we?" Roman says to me as we continue to overlook the map of the Vale harbor.

I continue to look over the map as I think over what Roman has said to me. 'Not only will this speed up operation I'm in one but the cut I get from this awesome. The cut from this mission is probably more lien then I've ever had in my life total. Just think of all the mods I could get for Snapshot! Damnit no focus on the mission Dez. Now where would be a good place to set up shop. I could from across the Harbor but if shit hit the fan it would take time for me to give direct support. Wait a minute that's perfect.

"There." I point to the map. "From this location I can oversee the shipment coming and give you direct fire support if anything were to go wrong. I'll hole my self on the top floor and over-watch from here.

"Works for me kid, but just so you know you're going to have to find a way back to our warehouse. The bullheads are going to be loaded to the brim with dust, so after this operation you can either lay low and make your way back when you have an opportunity or you can slip your through Vale and get back as soon as you can if things get too hot.

"Well it's probably best if I just try and wait out storm. I'll wait it out from my location and just slip through Vale the following morning. No need to rush back and risk getting caught, but what's the plan if things go bad? Like you said this large shipment may be packing security."

"Well for starters kid, I'll be there." Roman says to me smugly as usual. "We'll have bullheads on stand-by if somehow I can't handle it."

"Well then since I have my spot for the mission is there anything else we need to go over?" I ask Roman, 'the mission isn't for another couple of days so this could be a good time to check out the city and get a feel for Vale. I've never left Atlas besides going on missions back at the academy so this is probably as good as an opportunity as I'm going to get.'

"No were good for now kid, I have some contacts I have to get in touch with so I'll be out and about for sometime. I'd recommend going out seeing the city, seeing the Vytal Festival is starting soon it would be a good time to get familiar with the city, give yourself an upper hand for when we have another mission." Roman says to me as he makes his way out of the room. "Keep your scroll on you kid, just in case anything comes up" he says right before his steps out the door.

"Yes sir." I reply. 'Well now I have a reason to go out to town. I do have a lot of downtime, might as well...'

As I change into my old hunter gear I begin to think to myself, 'Team SLYR wasn't selected last year to participate in the tournament but I should probably mix up my outfit. I can't risk getting recognized out here, as unlikely as that might be, but it wouldn't hurt to change it up a bit. Well that will be my first priority, after that I need to find some parts to replace and repair Ripper. It sure took a hell of beating on the last mission. It's one thing fighting Grimm or sparring against other hunters, but fighting machinery sure does dull the blade quickly. Not to mention it would be nice to find some new parts for Snapshot. It was always a hobby of mine working on my Sniper rifle, I could never stop adding new attachments or finding new ways I could utilize programs in my scroll to integrate with my rifle making it more precise.

'What could I throw on next? I just added the dust silencer to it, maybe I should look at a new scope. The one I'm currently using maxes out at 10x magnification. Maybe I should up it to 12x or even 15x. If anything firing from those ranges would only help me in becoming a better marksman. I could use some new dust rounds, can never have too much versatility on mission. I currently carried standard dust rounds for all-purpose, electric dust rounds for a non-lethal purpose, and burn rounds if I needed to make a distraction or simply to burn something down.'

"Oh the options." I say as I exit the warehouse and observe and take a look at the skyline, sun still shining brightly on this Wednesday morning.

"Whelp... Time to check out Vale."

* * *

 **AN: Bit of setup/transition chapter here as I prepare to introduce the main characters of RWBY. As they're introduced they will have their narratives in this story as well as Slate's. Already looking forward to fleshing those chapters out. 'Til next time -MidKnight209**


	9. Chapter 9: First Contact

"Wow this place is real lively this time of year." I say to myself as I walk around Vale. A waited until a Saturday morning of Roman and I's little talk before heading out here. The sun is hanging in the air as I walk down the sidewalk, I'm looking for a clothing store so I can find a new ward-robe to wear while I'm not working with the Fang. 'I might as well have some sort of social life outside of work.' I think to myself as I scan over the shops I walk by. I carried SnapShot with me as huntsman and huntresses were allowed to carry them on them in the streets of Vale, 'I guess being this close to Beacon did have it's perks.'

'So what do I want to get, should I change it up completely or should I just make small subtle changes? Or I could do both.' I continue walking but stop once I see a good option. 'Hunters Combat Attire Inc., sounds good to me.' I walk in to see all kinds of gear ranging from combat skirts to ghillie suits. 'Looks like I hit the jackpot here.' I think to myself as I walk down the aisles.

"Do you need any help finding anything?"

I turn around to see a small brown haired faunus girl with antlers atop her head with a large smile plastered across her face greeting me. "Yeah I'm looking for a vest similar to the one I'm wearing, something with a little more protection." 'My ribs will definitely thank me.' I follow her around the corner past a couple shelves and we stop in the heavy duty section.

"This is the toughest stuff we have, all of the vests and gear we have here is heavily armored. Also these vests come with inner pouch so that you can put armored plating in them." She tells me while opening the vest up to show me.

"Cool, but do you have anything lighter? Armored plates will give me the protection I need but they will slow me down a bit too much."

"Well we just got these new plates in but there pretty expensive." She walks to the back of the store and then comes back holding a new set of plates. "These plates we have here are cutting edge. There extremely flexible as you can see." The girl starts to bend them back and forth almost like there made out of a gel. "But, they only stay this way when binded with your aura, once you aura is depleted it will activate the earth dust inside of it and become as hard as steel. So basically it's a last resort kind of reactive armor."

'Hmmm.. It will only activate if I take serious damage, so until then it won't slow me down. It beats no armor at all like I have right now.' "I'll take it, money's not an issue right now so I'm not worried about the cost."

"Great, I'll leave it by the counter and ring you once you're ready." She says to me with a smile as she walks off to go help another customer. I walk over back to the shelves and I find a dark grey vest pretty similar to mine and tuck underneath my arm. 'Sold. Now I just need a couple more things and I'll be good.

B

About 15 minutes later I walk up to the cashier and pay for my new wardrobe. After I paid for the gear I walked into a dressing room and changed into it. I bought another set of black pants with some small grey knee-pads to go with them, to go with my darker colored theme I bought a black t-shirt with a black short-sleeved hoodie to wear over it. On top of that I wear my newly acquired grey vest with the plates installed so I can get used to them now. To top it off I bought a new pair of black combat boots because it never hurts to have another pair of shoes. After I finished changing I went and found the faunus girl that helped me to go ask her a question. "Hey is there a good place around here that sells parts for weapons? I'm new around town and I don't really the area."

"Yeah once you walk out the store go left, walk three blocks on it should be on your right. You know the place once you've seen it."

"Okay thanks!" I say as I start walking towards the door as I send her a wave. As I to walk out the door I run into something and then trip and fall forward.

"Owwww" I hear someone call out from below me. I immediately realize it was a person I ran into and push myself up. I look down to see a small girl with silver eyes wearing a red hood and some sort of black and red combat skirt.

"Shit I'm sorry I wasn't paying attention." I apologize while holding out my hand to help her up. She takes my hand and I pull her up, 'Jeez this kid can't weight more than 100 pounds' I think to myself as I pull her to her feet with little resistance.

"You don't need to apologize it was my fault, I wasn't paying attention, I got caught up reading a weapons magazine I'm really sorry." She blurts out to me as fast as she can as she begins to rub the back of her head.

"Hey it's fine, your okay right?" I ask her

"Yeah I'm fine that was nothing." She says while puffing her chest out a bit.

"Okay good, sorry for running into you." I say as I begin to walk out again.

"Hey wait!" She says as I turn around to see her wide eyed. "Is that a sniper rifle!? OHHH IT'S SO COOOOOL!"

"Oh yeah this is SnapShot, you know a thing or two about weapons?" I ask out of curiosity.

"Oh do I! I have a sniper rifle too." As she says that she reaches to her back and pulls out what looks like a red frame until it shifts into a... is that a scythe?' "It also a scythe. Her name's Crescent Rose." She says to me with a large smile.

"Wow. Where'd you find a weapon like that?" I ask as I look at the modern marvel in front of me.

"Oh I made it at signal academy, I kind of went overboard when I was making it. You see I'm studying at Beacon to become a huntress."

'Damn this kid put me to shame.' I think to myself as I look over my own rifle. "Yeah mine's nothing special like yours."

"Hey our weapon's are an extension of ourselves. Don't sell yourself short yours is real cool. Even if it's as not as over top of mine, it's still special." She says to me with a little shove.

"Yeah, thanks..Um" I say still not knowing her name.

"Oh I'm Ruby." She says awkwardly

"Slate." I say offering my hand. She takes it and gives a small shake. "Well Ruby it was nice to meet you but I have errands I need to run."

"Oh... okay, well are you from around here? Like will I see you around?" She asks somberly.

"No I'm from Atlas but I'll be in town for a while. Hey do you have a scroll?" I ask

"Oh yeah" She says pulling it out of a pocket on her skirt.

"Hey let me see it." She hands it to me unsure of what I'm doing. I take her scroll and after a few seconds of familiarizing myself I input my contact information on it. "There here's my number, I'm going to be busy for a couple days but if you're free we can hang out some more." 'It would be nice to have some friends again. It's been pretty much all work no play since I've been in Vale.' I think to myself as I hand my scroll back to Ruby.

She takes it back with a bit of a blush and lets out a giggle. "Thanks sounds like a plan. Here's mine" As she tells my her number I save it to my scroll.

"I'll see you around Ruby." I say with a wave leaving the store.

"Bye!" Yells out Ruby waving back.

B

I start walking towards the weapon store the faunus girl recommended to me. I was about a block away and then it hit me. "Wait did I just get a girl's number?" I say out loud to nobody but myself. 'I mean I'm not ready just to get in a relationship after what happened, I just hope she doesn't take it like that. It would be nice just to have someone I could call a friend again.' I think to myself. 'Fuchsia was the last real friend.. girlfriend I had. Gotta start rebuilding somewhere I guess.'

'Well where's this store now?' I'm thinking as I continue walking down the street. Then I see it 'Dust Nation.' I entered the shop to see all kinds of various weapons mounted on the walls, from rifles to zweihanders this place was loaded with weapons. I start looking around in the rifles section of the store, I soon see a small but well-stocked section marked optics. There was a couple of night-vision optics and scopes with range-finders, but below that was the mother of all optics. It was a 15x optic with built in night-vision and range-finder, and on the side of the scope it had ports so you could put custom software so you could input your own personal cross-hairs. 'WANT' my head is screaming to me as I look at it, it was expensive but after the dust holding bank take I would have just enough to get it.

Several minutes and one purchase later I'm leaving the shop when my scroll begins to ring. I pull it out and see the that a blocked number is calling me. 'Probably Roman' I think to myself as I answer the scroll. "Hello?" I answer.

"Hey kid something has come up. I need you back at the warehouse sooner than later." He says to me sounding annoyed.

"Yeah, no problem. Everything ok sir?"

"Nothing serious kid, but plans have changed a bit. The hit is happening tonight, I need you ready." Roman says as serious as ever.

"I'm on the way now."


	10. Chapter 10: Battle at the Docks (part 1)

I hurriedly made my way back to the docks after speaking with Roman. 'The mission is today? What happened that we would need to push up the operation? Did he get bad intel?' These thoughts race through my mind as I backtrack through Vale. After another couple minutes of my thoughts I feel my scroll begin to vibrate. 'Damn it Roman I'm going as fast as I can,' I think to myself as I pull out my scroll.

 **'One new message'** 'Huh? Roman's not one to send messages.' I pull up the message to see what it is. 'Ruby?'

 _ **R:** 'Hey I know we just met but I wanted to know if I could ask you for a favor?' _'A favor? I wonder what this is about.'

 _'Yeah no problem, what is it?'_ I reply.

 _ **R:** 'Well two of my teammates from Beacon got into an argument, and one of them got really angry and ran off, it's already been overnight and she hasn't come back yet, this is the last place we were as a team and I was wondering if you see her can you let me know?_

 _'Yeah sure, who am I exactly looking for?'_

 _ **R:** 'Her name's Blake. She's really pale and has long black hair.'_

 _ **R:** 'Oh and she has a black bow she wears on the top of her head.'_

 _'Yeah I'll be sure to let you know if I see her around.'_

 _ **R:** 'Okay, thanks a bunch :b'_

 _'Yeah, no problem.'_

'Well today got a lot more interesting.' I think to myself as I continue my way to the warehouse. After another thirty minutes of running I finally reach my destination. Roman is waiting impatiently tapping his cane.

"What took you so long kid? Like I've said before this operation is of great importance. Once this is taken care of we'll be able to move on to much bigger projects." He says to me walking back and forth twirling his cane.

"So what has happened that we are doing the mission today Roman?"

"Well that's easy kid, the Schnee's are pulling the strings of this shipment and with how busy we've been the last couple of months they want to get this shipment in as quickly as possible so they can replace the dust we've taken." 'That make's a lot of sense, with all the dust we've stolen the SDC has to be making a killing selling it to these other companies to refill their stock. They'd be almost benefiting as much as we are, at least until we start targeting them.' "Well kid we don't have time to waste, I need you in position as soon as you can. When you're settled in get in contact with me."

"Got it, Sir." I say as I make my way to my room in the warehouse. I grab a duffel-bag and shove my all of my White Fang gear in it. I grab a few extra smoke canisters and throw them in as well. I load them on my back and make way towards my over-watch position. If I hurry I can get there in twenty minutes, twenty-five tops. 'Alright time for some cardio' I think as I pull open one of the warehouse doors only to be greeted with a box van full of White Fang members.

"Sir we're here to take you to your position." The cat faunus behind the wheel says. 'Right now there just in their civilian clothing, but I'm guessing they're going to be laying low like me until showtime.'

"Alright let's get a move on!" I say as run to the back jump in and pull down the door. 'I'll have to thank Roman later for the ride.'

* * *

I pull open the door just enough for my to slip out with my gear. "Hey I want you guys to lay low until the operation is about to take place. You'll be our reinforcements just in case the SDC wants to get involved okay?"

"Yes Sir!" The members all say in unison.

I then shoulder my gear and make my way into an alley near my over-watch point. I begin looking for a way into the building, 'I can't break any windows because that will make too much noise. The roof maybe?' I find a series of ladders near the back of the building. I make my way up them and look over the rooftop. I see a ventilation shaft that should get me in, I remove Ripper from my holster and shift it into my falchion. I grip it tightly in my hand and make three quick slashes, with three of the screws off the vents cover I rotate it the cover enough for me to get in head first. I slowly crawl my way through the vent coughing up a storm of dust as I do so. 'Damn this sucks, how much further is it until I find another opening?' After another couple minutes of climbing I come to a 90 degree drop. 'Whelp this is gunna suck.' I say as I lean forward. I begin falling head first and I wrap my arms over my head as I fall down the shaft. I peek one eye open to see the bottom of the shaft approaching and I brace for impact.

 ***CLANG!***

Not only do I hit the vent's bottom but I take part of the vent with my as I crash into the buildings bottom floor. "Owwwww." I grunt to myself as I climb out of what's left of the vent shaft. 'Next time I'll just risk it and break a damn window.' I push myself up from the ground and I start to rotate my shoulder as I feel like it might of popped it out it's socket. 'Nope all good.' I begin to look around the abandoned building, after a quick look I see it. "No damn way.." I begin walking to the front door and turn the handle.

 ***Crrreeeak***

'Oum Damn it, the dust damned front door was open!?' I close the door and immediately storm my way up a set of stairs fuming. 'I can't believe this shit the front door was unlocked. How stupid am I that I didn't just check the front door? Whatever that's over with time to focus on the mission.'

I reach the third floor and I drop my bag down next to the window over-watching the harbor, but more precisely where the shipment drop-off is taking place. I unzip my bag and begin to pull out my gear. First thing I do is throw on my White Fang gear. I'm suited minus my mask, I'll only throw that on if I really need to. I take SnapShot out of the bag and I begin to attach my wind dust silencer onto it. I then pull out a bi-pod and attach it onto the bottom rails of my sniper rifle and I take a comfortable position over-watching the mission point. Once I'm done setting up shop I pull out my scroll and I send a quick message to Roman.

 _'in position.'_ I send to him. After only a couple of seconds I get a call on my scroll from a blocked number. I slide open the scroll.

"Good work kid, my hired help and I will be on standby. The moment the target is in position I want you to notify me. After the payload is unloaded you will scan the area and make the call. Based off your intel we will act accordingly understood?"

"Got it, anything else?" I reply

"That will be all." *click* He hangs up as the line goes dead.

I pull out a pair of high powered binoculars a scan over the harbor's horizon. 'I'll keep my rifle trained over the objective and use the binoculars to scan for the cargo ship.' My rifle is already sighted and ranged in on the drop-off point so this will save me time. I have a magazine off electric dust and burn dust next to my rifle, depending on what kind of opposing forces we run into, if we run into any. 'Well now here come's the boring part.' As I take my place by my rifle.

* * *

It's been a couple of hours and then the sun is close to setting. There's been zero activity up until this point as I continue to scan over the harbor. I take another drink of my bleu-bull to keep my awareness up as I'm starting to get tired of staring at nothing. Only then I see what looks like a dark object appear on the horizon. I keep my focus on it as I switch to the maximum optic level on my binoculars. After a couple of minutes the the ship gets closer and closer into focus. Closely scanning over the cargo ship I finally find what I'm looking for, 'Schnee Dust Company.'

"Jackpot." I say as I pull out my scroll and send another brief message to Roman.

 _'Eyes on target. ETA twenty minutes.'_ I send.

 _'Good job, waiting for part two.'_ I get back from him.

* * *

After twenty minutes the cargo ship pulls up to harbor and what I assume to be SDC employee's start to quickly unload large shipping crates.

'Damn there has to be almost two dozen of these crates, this has to be five times what have taken all-together.' After about half-an-hour they start to unload the final shipping crate. After the crate is in position the workers all load up on the the ship and start to leave port. I'm scanning with my rifle but it looks like the haven't left anybody behind. 'So they think there too big to have their product interfered with, well guess what you're not.'

By this time the sun has set and I switch my scope over to the night-vision setting. I scan over the area one more time and it's still all clear. I make the call. After two rings he picks up. "Sir we're all clear, no hostiles present."

"Alright I'm on the way." As I hang up the phone I swore I heard something behind me. I turn around and walk over towards the back of the building. There's a window overlooking one of the ladders I took to get on the rooftop. It was swaying slightly and making a bit of a creaking sound. 'Eh just probably the wind or something.' I think to myself as I get back to my position. 'I gotta stay focused, can't let nerves get the best of me now.' After about ten minutes a can see a bullhead closing in. 'Roman.' As soon as it closes in it begins to hover and then land near the crates. I can see a number of White Fang step off the ramp and begin to attach cables the shipping crates. 'Looks like we are trying to get in and out as quick as possible.'

I continue to scan over the area through my rifle's scope when a black blur overtakes my vision for just a split-second. 'What the hell?' I think as I look at the front of my optic to make sure it wasn't a bug or something. 'What was that' I continue to question as I scan over the crates again. At first I don't see anything but after a couple of moments I see what looks like a shadow move in between them. "Shit" I say out loud as I pick up my scroll to call Roman. 'Damn it hurry up and answer.' I think as it starts to ring. Just then I see something fly out from the shadows and grab Roman from behind blade in their hands. "Damn it" I say as I centered my cross-hairs on this new target. It appears to be a dark-haired faunus girl. 'Not today' I think as I pull the trigger.

 ***Click***

I look down to my rifle to see my two magazines waited to be loaded. 'Damn it that was a rookie mistake.' I think as I clearly rushed myself and panicked. I load the electric dust magazine and chamber a round. I put her back into my cross-hairs only to see a pair of bullheads hover her centering their spotlights on her. I see Roman shift his can down towards her feet and he fires a round.

 ***BANGGGG!***

As the smoke clear the attacker is getting to their feet as Roman starts to fire at them. She dodges and rolls out of Roman's fire, at one point I swear I saw an afterimage of her take around as she kept evading fire. 'How's she doing that I think as I struggle to keep a lock on her. I can't tell which one is the real her or not.' I reduce the zoom on my scope so I get better track her as I see another blur blow by my scope. 'The hell?' As I scan over where the blur came from to see a blonde hair boy kick Roman in the head.

"Damn it were they on the roof of my building?" I say out loud 'I knew I was hearing something, damn it Roman is going to be PISSED.' This new faunus with matching blonde hair and tail took a fighting stance and was ready to face off with Roman, then the bullheads doors opened up and White Fang members poured out surrounded the second intruder. Then the blonde faunus reached for his back and pulled out a series of chained poles, after a twirl they formed some sort of bo staff. I centered in on my cross-hairs but as soon as I had a clean shot the White Fang members leaped and threw themselves at him. 'Crap I don't want to hit my own guys.' I think as I try to keep on target. This faunus just seems to throw my fellow members left and right as he just plows through them. 'This guy is no joke, why's he fighting against us? I thought the faunus were on our side, we're the good guys right?' He kicks and throws a Fang member into a group and takes the rest of them out.

'Finally I have a shot! Too bad it came at the expense of my fellow brethren.' As I squeeze the trigger. Unfortunately Roman had the same idea and fired as well resulting in the faunus to block with his staff blocking not only Roman's shot but mine too. 'Damn. Oh great the cat faunus is back.' As she takes the opportunity to launch an attack on Roman. Too bad for her Roman's a pro, he smugly goes on the defensive obviously humoring her as he easily blocks and counters everyone of her blows. He even gets a couple of solid punches in as he isn't fazed in the slightest by what I assume to be her shape-shifting semblance. After a final block he parries her a send her to the floor with a firm jab. The next instant the blonde faunus makes his presence known again by sending Roman to the ground with a flying kick. 'Okay Roman is going to be REALLY PISSED.'

'Okay enough observing from the sidelines.' I stand up and throw SnapShot into my duffel-bag, I pull Ripper from my holster and aim at the window in front of me. "Time to go loud." I say as I fire and blow a hole in the window. I take a couple of steps back don my Fang mask and run forward. I lower my shoulder and jump through the window head first. The glass shatters around me as the air hits me as I am now in free fall. My shoulder connects with ground first as I roll into landing in a somersault. I immediately try to get a bearing on my surroundings as I scan the now battlefield. I hear a large metallic banging sound as a crate hits the ground. On one side is the dark haired cat faunus, on the other the blonde faunus is laid out on the ground hands held in surrender as Roman has his at cane-point.

"HEY!"

I hear yelled out from a nearby rooftop as turn to look who it came from. It's then I realize today just got a whole lot more difficult. "Ruby?" I say out loud to no one in particular.

"Why hello there Red, isn't it a bit past your bedtime?" Roman calls out to the new assailant. 'Wait they know each other. What in the hell is going on? Damn it I need to keep her put of this, Roman will wipe the floor with her if she gets involved.' I take off towards the building in a sprint. Unfortunately Roman rounds flies overhead, much too fast for me to keep up, and leaves it's mark hitting Ruby.

 ***BANG!***

"BWAH!" I hear her yell out she is hit by the round. I begin to work my way up the building doing my best job at free running as I near the top off the building. I push off windowsill with all might in my legs and grab the edge of the rooftop. I feel the air shift behind me and I look back to see red headed girl in bright green and black attire. 'I don't have time for this,' I think as I pull myself up.

Ruby is still pushing herself up as I make my presence known. "Hey kid this is as far as you go."

"You're not stopping me from helping my friend." Ruby yells at me in irritation. 'Your friend, wait is that faunus girl the one she was looking for. Damn small world, I hate to stop my first friend in a while but I can't afford to let this mission fail. There's too much at stake right now.'

"Well then I guess you're going to have to go through me."


	11. Chapter 11: Battle at the Docks (part 2)

"Well then I guess you're going to have to go through me." I hear this White Fang jerk say out loud as he points his falchion at me. 'Okay Ruby you can do this, this jerk doesn't look so tough. Okay he's using a sword so he's going to want to get in close, I just gotta use the reach of Crescent Rose to keep him back.' I think myself as he begins to size me up. 'Okay he's kinda tall but my sweetheart here will bring him down to size. Okay enough of him stalling, I need to help Blake now!' I trigger my semblance and disappear into a flurry of roses, I reappear right in front of him swing my scythe upwards. I obviously caught him off guard but he managed to block my swing but he is still stumbling backwards. I take advantage of this and I plant my scythe tip into the ground and swing my body around it and I catch him square in the chest with a swinging double legged kick. My kick sends him sliding on his back across the roof. "Not so tough now are you know you jerk."

He then starts to let a low chuckle which slowly raises into full blown laughter.

"Oh kid we are just getting started."

* * *

I grab the edge of the rooftop and push myself up. 'Okay the best way to get to her is to get under her skin, she's damn quick so I'm going to have to block and make small strikes. I also gotta keep her close the sniper of hers will make short work of me.'

"Hey short stack you really a kid like you can make a difference? You think a couple of wannabe hunters can stop the full force of the White Fang? Just cut your loses now and get out here, because if you get anymore involved your not just putting a target on your head, your putting one on the people you know too." 'I hate to do this to her but she needs to get out of here, I'm not lying in what I said, Roman wont just let this slide if they derail this mission. He's not one to forgive and forget.' "Hey kid for your own sake get out of here." I say this time in a much more serious tone.

"Sure I'm not huntress yet, but what does that matter! I'm doing what's right, your bullies just think you can get things by fear and pushing people around. Well that's just plain wrong, I'm going to do what's right no matter what, you can threaten me all you want but a true huntress will do whatever necessary to keep the people of Remnant safe." She yells back.

'Damn it Ruby, your my friend I don't want to fight you.' "Then you leave me no choice."

I rush her and she swings her scythe in a wide arc, I jump over it and kick down just in time to her weapon. She stumbles forward and I hit her in the stomach with the handle of my blade. With the wind clearly knocked out of her I go low and spin around to her backside and catch her with kick sending her forward into the ground. 'I don't want to hurt her, hopefully I can either just buy enough time for Roman to take care of business or knock her unconscious.' She pushes herself and readies her weapon once again. I go to rush her again but she disappears in a flurry of roses again. I look around to see where she went only to be met with her boot to my face as she kicks me from above. Still rattled I send a back swing with my blade connecting with something as my vision still clears from her kick.

"AHHHHH!" I hear her yell out

I turn to see her holding a red cape in her hands partially torn.

"Your ripped my cape you jerk!" Ruby yells at me as aims her scythe at me.

'Shit...' I think as she begins firing at me. I dive to the right to try to avoid her gunfire. I dodge the first two shot but the third and fourth connect with me left leg send me sprawling across the roof. 'F***ing oww! What kinda damn rounds does this kid use, they hit like a damn dust train.' I push myself up as I continue to try to avoid her rounds, after three more dodges she runs out of ammo and starts to reload. 'Okay this is my best shot.' I run straight at her my blade in hand, I'm ready to swing as she readies to counter me but we both stop when we see a massive green beam shoot through the sky. It completely bisects a bullhead and send it crashing into the harbor. 'What in the hell was that?' I think as I look around only to see the source be the small redhead Ruby was with. 'Her!? What is with these kids?' I then see the redhead shoot out a series of wires to another bullhead, she then pulls it down into pair of shipping crates taking the already attached crate with it.

"Wow how is she doing that." I hear Ruby say.

'You and me kid, damn this mission is done for, Roman is going to have my ass. I gotta get out here, but first I need to grab my gear from the building. Oh and deal with Ruby here.'

"Well kid I hate to say it but you and your friends have won this fight, but I'll be damned if you win the war." I say to Ruby who's look of awe now shifts into anger.

I reach for my jacket and pull out two smoke canisters, one in each of my hands.

I flip off the pins of each canister and hold the handle's. "Until next time Ruby." I say with closed eyes as I throw the canisters and trigger my semblance. I reopen my eyes to see the rooftop enveloped in smoke as jump of the side. I shove my blade into the side of the building to slow my descent. I hit the ground and take work my way through the alleyways back towards my over-watch position. While I'm running I hear some of the bullheads still firing as the retreat back to our hideout. 'Damn it these hunters have made my life a whole lot harder.' As I approach my position I can't afford to take the scenic route as I may be spotted, I aim Ripper at the window and fire three shots shattering it. I jump through and start working my way up the stairs, I reach the top and grab my bag and throw it over my shoulder. In the next moment my scroll begins to vibrate and I have a new message from a blocked number. 'Just great.' I think as I open it up.

 _"We need to talk. Get back asap."_

"Yup I'm screwed." I say to myself as I try and figure out how to get back. 'Wait. The van!.' I take off my White Fang gear and throw it in my bag as I throw on my normal hunter attire. I begin to navigate a pair of alleyways as I see the van still sitting there vacant. 'Looks like they heard the commotion and got involved.' I think as I pull the door handle. *click* 'good it's unlocked.' I throw my bag into the passenger seat and start the engine. 'Time to get out of here.'

* * *

After about ten minutes of navigating Vale I reached the warehouse. I pulled next to a couple of similar vans switched back into my White Fang gear and got out. I slowly made my way towards Roman's 'war-room' as all kinds of thoughts plagued my mind. 'I'm dead aren't I, he's going to fire me and then cut of all loose ends, I'm so freaking dead.' I reached the door to his room and knocked twice. "Took you long enough!" I hear call out from behind the door. "Get in here!" I stepped inside to see him facing a map of Vale, his cane behind his back.

"You wanted to talk Sir?" I say as I the door closes behind me.

"Well, well, well... Where do I start Dezmond?" Roman says still facing the map.

"Well...from the beginning Sir?" I say trying to break the awkwardness.

"Oh so this is joke to you then Dezmond?" He says as he turns around pointing his cane at me.

"No I was just trying to-"

"I don't care what your trying to do kid, you either do or you don't. I don't have time for people who can't get the job done. So I'll start here, you said the area was clear of hostiles, do mind telling me why me and your White Fang pals saw different?" He says as he flexes his glove to punctuate his statement.

"It was clear Sir, those hostiles came after the mission started I'm sure of it." I say stating my case.

"Then do you mind telling me where they came from?"

"Well they were stationed on the same building as me Sir, on the rooftop. I didn't know until it was already to late. I went to intercept them when I saw the two others on the rooftop. I went and fought the one you called Red off. Knowing now that the one in green was the biggest problem I should of intercepted her." I explained.

"Well as unfortunate as that is kid, I can't just let you off the hook. This mission was a lot bigger than just you me kid, and now my employer wants answers."

"Understood Sir." I say while hanging my head low. 'Whelp this is it.'

"But seeing as you keep relations between me and the White Fang, I can't afford to lose you that easily." He says turning back to face the map.

"You mean I'm off the hook?" I ask in surprise. 'So I'm not dead?'

"Like I said before kid, this operation would greatly move forward our efforts. But failing this operation won't stop us, we will get to goals the way we have before. Perseverance. We will overcome our setback and once we do we will show the policeman, the government, all of Remnant that we are a force to be reckoned with." Says Roman as he brings down his gloved fists on the table. "We have to be smart though, now that Vale knows the White Fang are in the game we have to be patient, hit the right targets, and strike at the right time."

"Besides I want you to meet with an associate of mine. She should greatly help with our operation." Says Roman

"She?" I ask.

"Neo if you would?" Roman says as he points to the door. I look to where he's pointing only to see an room. All of a sudden the room shatters like broken a window and small women with pink, brown, and white hair is waiting. She is also wearing a suit with colors matching her hair followed by brown pants and near knee-high white boots. She greets me by taking a bow with flowered white, pink, brown umbrella.

"I have a feeling this will be the beginning of beautiful alliance." Says Roman as he walks between us.

* * *

 **Well a new perspective there for the first time. There will be more later in this story as different characters are introduced, so this was just a bit of a trial run. I wanted to get this chapter out as quick as I can as tend to end my chapters on cliffhangers. Sorry it's just makes the next chapter flow a lot easier in my opinion. It might be a little while before my next update but not too long. Until next time peoples -MidKnight209**


	12. Chapter 12: Lesson(s) Learned

"So Dezmond this is one my associates I was telling you about. You said you needed help training in close quarter and hand to hand combat, and there is no one else I would rather recommend than Neo. Hell after what you told me with your battle with Red any kind of training should help. Neapolitan here is on a whole other level when it comes to close quarter fighting, not to mention her semblance is extremely useful in evasion. She'd put Red to shame."

I look over to Neo who simply nods and blinks her eyes in agreement. 'Wait did her eyes switch colors?' I thought to myself as they changed between brown and pink.

"Now then since I am going to have my hands full for the next couple of weeks stringing together some robberies I'll leave you two to work something out as far as a training schedule goes. Neo is be contacting you later in regard to a mission I have for you. She simply turned towards and gave him a nod. 'So she's the quiet type eh? Doesn't really matter I could sure use her help if what Roman says is accurate. As Roman leaves the room Neo turns and faces me with a small smirk on her face.

"So you work with Roman? How come I've never seen you around here before."

"..." 'Okay that's weird so she doesn't like to talk at all.' I'm thinking as Neo pulls out her scroll and begins to type into it. After a couple of seconds she shoves it into my face.

\- _It's easier to talk through the scroll, and I have been here on more than one occasion, I just like to stay in the shadows._ -

"I don't mean to pry but did something happen to you that you can't talk?"

\- _Everyone makes mistakes, this is just one that happened to be a more permanent mistake._ -

"Got it, so I know Roman's probably already let you know but I'm Dezmond Slate, I used to be a huntsman at Atlas' Hunter Academy but now I'm working with him using the cover of a White Fang Lieutenant." I say to Neo trying to make small talk so I can learn a little bit about her before I'm literally throwing punches at her.

\- _Neapolitan, I prefer Neo though. I've been fighting for a long time now. I've worked with numerous associates but Roman is one I've taken a liking too so I've been working with him the longest. Plus I basically get to freelance unless a job is needed taken care of. So former hunter huh?_ _You're kind of young._ \- She types out.

I give a sigh and look down as soon as see her question. "Yeah, I guess you can say I also made a mistake that is permanent. I'm just glad Roman took me under his wing, I have no idea where I'd be right now without him."

Neo crosses her arms and gives a small frown and begins typing again. - _Need to talk about it?_ -

"Maybe some other time." I say shaking my head. " Anyways Roman says your quite the expert in close combat. Where do you think would be a good place to start Neo?"

\- _Well that all depends on your fighting style, I'd say we start with hand-to-hand combat and work our way up from there. We'll have a skirmish and I'll access your style and make adjustments._ -

"Sounds good to me, the Fang members have a room they use for training here we can use. Follow me I can show you." I say motioning her to follow as I open the door. She nods and gets in step with me staying close as we make our way to the training room. We reach the room and I hold open the door for her to go in first, she sends a small smile to me as she enters.

\- _Okay let's do this_ \- She types to me as she throws her umbrella to the side of the room and walks into the center of the room and onto a mat used for sparring. I draw Ripper from my holster and place it along side her umbrella. She then takes a crouching stance with one arm to her side and the other in front of her. I follow suit by taking a loose boxing stance both of my hands in front of me and I start alternating bounces of my feet. She then sends a nod my way and begins to run towards me. I'm expecting for her to throw the first punch but I'm caught completely off guard when instead she just front-flips over me throwing kick towards the back of my head. I turn and throw my arms up to meet her kick and I barely just block her in time. 'I can't let her keep the offensive as my hand-to-hand defensive is sub-par.' I think as I throw a right straight at her. She dips below it and I send a left jab to follow up. She shifts right and grabs me by the left elbow and throws me forward using my momentum against me. I stumble forward not expecting her to use a grapple move, she then sends a kick to my back as I am stumbling sending me face-first into the ground.

'Okay she is an expert.' I think to myself as I got a taste of the sparring mat. As I am pushing myself up I can hear a flurry of small footsteps coming behind me. I jump and roll out of the way in the nick of time as she sends an axe kick to where my head just was a split second ago. Out of my roll I take my stance one again and start to slowing make my way to her. 'I gotta try to take things slow as she is just countering and using my attacks work against me, I just need to find a weakness. Maybe I can overpower her, she is really small.' I think as she is standing in the same spot of the mat with a hand on her waist. As I reach her I send a straight kick with my left leg which she easily side steps. I then try to work a small combo on her, I send a left straight, follow by two quick right jabs, a left and right hook, finishing with a spinning left leg roundhouse. Neo in response dodges left, blocks my jabs, dips backwards to avoid both of my hooks and grabs my left leg and throws me across the room into the lightly padded wall of the room. 'How did she do that? I didn't even come close to touching her, is she even using her semblance? I can't imagine fighting her with it.' I'm thinking to myself as I detach myself from mat. As I look up the last thing I see is a knee connecting with my stomach knocking the wind out of me, as I am hunched over from the blow she grabs me by the belt and lifts me over herself and launches me to the ground. As I'm laying in the ground, the edges of my vision still blurry from the blow I see Neo walk up to me and plant one of her boots into my chest.

"Okay, okay you win." I wheeze out.

She gives me a large grin and pulls out her scroll typing again. - _You have a lot to learn but I'm glad to see you switched up your style mid-fight. Some people are so stubborn in their fighting styles that they'll just keep trying to same moves over and over like it's going to make a difference, nope it just makes it easier for me to find a pattern and take advantage of. You tried to overwhelm and overpower me towards the end but unfortunately I was hoping you'd try that. People see my stature and think they can just walk all over me.-_ Neo then sends a swift kick into my ribs. 'Owww-' I grab the rib she kicked and begin rubbing it as she starts typing into her scroll again.

\- _Lesson 1: Never underestimate your opponent. Just because you think you may have an advantage in a certain area doesn't mean you do. They could be working you into a trap as they already know their own strengths and weaknesses. Let your opponent make the first mistake and capitalize off that, you don't need to beat them on the first blow but by slowing and methodically countering your enemy you can not only take advantage physically but you can get inside of their head frustrating them and coaxes them into making more mistakes as they begin to question themselves, or even better just pissing them off._ -

'Damn I didn't know she was so skilled as a fighter, I would never think to beat an opponent mentally during a fist fight.

She then presses the heel of her boot a little deeper into my chest. - _Which brings me to lesson number 2: Confidence. You should never launch an attack if you don't have 100 percent confidence that it will land. Even if it doesn't land you can use it to set up another strike or a feint that can catch your opponent off guard. If you start questioning your own strikes then you've already lost the fight mentally, and when you lose mentally you will inevitably lose physically._ \- After she shows me her message she releases the pressure of her boot and lends a hand towards me to help me up. I grab her hand accepting her help, as she pulls up she jerks and pushes me in the back sending me forward. I throw my self into a rolling somersault and turn around to face her. She's sporting a rather large smile on her face as she types into her scroll once more.

She walks over to me showing me her message. - _and most importantly lesson number 3: Always be on guard. Always expect the unexpected, if you always have your head on a swivel you'll always be prepared for when something out of the blue happens. If you have good situational awareness you can catch small dents and dings in your opponents fighting style not to mention if the environment your fighting in can help or hinder you. Okay now let's go again._ -

My eyes widen at her last sentence as she pulls her scroll away and send a wide arcing kick toward my face. 'Here we go again.'

* * *

Several minutes and one ass-kicking compliments of Neo later I begin to push myself off the mat. I begin brushing myself off as Neo walks up to me her scroll in hand. "So how did I do?" I ask her.

\- _You improved a lot after the first fight, you clearly good at adapting to how your opponent fights but you still have a lot of work to do. First of all your fighting way to aggressive, you normally fight with weapons so I want you to fight defensively if you are ever in hand to hand combat. In a normal fight you'd have your blade on you so if your caught without it you need to be on the defense, I want you to work with your evading and blocking more. Once you learn how to evade and properly block strikes I can show you how to counter and knock your opponent off balance. My fighting style is all about countering and using your momentum against you. If you learn how to fight this way it will help you not only in your hand-to-hand fighting but also with your weapon._ \- She explained to me through her phone. 'She's right if I'm caught without either of my weapons the last thing I want to do is be on the offense, at that point evasion would be my top priority.'

"That sounds good to me, I'm a Sniper and when it comes to close quarter combat my best option would be to fight defensively." I tell her. She responds with grin and types into her scroll.

\- _Good, well I'd love to stay here and beat you into the ground but Roman needs be to run an 'op.' I'm free on most nights so just message if you want to spar. I have nothing better to do and helping you could end helping me in the long run._ -

"Sounds like a plan to me, until next time Neapolitan." I say sending my hand. She takes it we exchange in a quick handshake before she types into her scroll.

\- _Oh please. Just call me Neo._ \- She walks over to her umbrella and shoots me a quick smile before she bows and flips her umbrella backwards and flashes out of existence.

"Well that was a thing." I say under my breathe, I slowly rotate my shoulders working the hurt of them as I walk towards my room in the warehouse. I un-holster Ripper and press the magazine release on it. I place the magazine on a desk near my bunk and I pull the slide on it to eject the round in the chamber placing the round next to the magazine. I quickly dress down as I am exhausted after the day that unfolded. 'Damn what a day, which reminds me I'm going to have to talk to Ruby when I get the chance. I'm just happy she didn't recognize me, thank Oum I didn't have Snapshot on me at the time. That could of blown everything, just gotta make sure whenever I'm around her to keep Ripper holstered as she only saw it in it's falchion form.' My thoughts slowly begin to fade as I find sweet unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Hey everyone sorry for the long break but I didn't expect work to keep me so busy as it really hindered my time I had to write. I probably have another chapter up this weekend as I've already started on that one. Thanks for the follow and favs! WOO 1,000 views! Until next time -MidKnight209**


	13. Chapter 13: Remember

***BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP***

I awoke to my scroll's alarm going off. Immediately I felt the the blows and bruises from the following day as I pushed myself into a sitting position in my bed. 'Oum damn it I feel like I've been hit by bus, the bus proceeded to back up and run over me again.' I think to myself as I started to stretch out. I stand up grabbing my scroll from the desk and turning off my alarm. '6 AM, I damn Atlas Academy, I couldn't sleep in any longer even if I tried. I guess old habits die hard.' I walk over to the closet in my room and change into normal gear, as I'm throwing on my new padded vest I hear a ring on my scroll. I walk over to the scroll and check the screen.

 _-One new message-_

Unknown Number- _Hey kid no ops today. I have something later this week but looks like it we have to lay low until then._

'Looks like I'm not the only early riser' I think to myself as I grab my pistol and look it over to check for any damage. I shift the blade out and begin to look over it as well. There's scrapes and gashes in the blade, the tip of the blade is also fairly bent to the right side. 'Damn Ruby's scythe did a number to Ripper, I guess it's just not suited to take the full impact of of a weapon as large as a scythe. That reminds me I should probably get in contact with her today, make sure she's okay. I didn't want to hurt her but I couldn't fail the job (even though we ended failing anyways.) Hopefully she and what I assume was her teammates are okay. I can't really bring that up but hopefully she'll just end tell me herself.

I walked over to the small television in the room and turned it on, 'let's see if the news has anything on last night's op.

"... as we continue on the story that's been on everybody's minds. Last night a Schnee Dust Company shipment of dust was attacked and under robbery by what I confirmed members of the now militant group White Fang. This continues to be a downfall of what was once a peaceful political group. The group attempted to stage a robbery on shipping containers full of dust and other unspecified equipment, the group was thwarted by a group of young huntsman and huntresses and then detained by Vale Police Department officers. The hunters in training have asked to keep the identities concealed. Back to you Terence."

"Thank you for that report Lisa, now the question the Vale Police Department officers have been asking may have been answered. Is there a connection to the recent string of dust robberies. We'll have more on that after the break."

'Damn Roman was right this mission has just got a whole lot harder. We have to be on our toes every op from now on, there's going to be a lot more police activity in Vale.'

'Well I guess now is better then never' I thought as I pulled out my scroll and pulled up Ruby's contact info.

- _Hey Ruby it's Slate. I heard there was a robbery by the docks last night. Does stuff always happen like this in Vale?_ -

'She's probably not up yet so I'll just started working the damage out of my blade. Maybe I should getting a stronger metal for it? Eh that will just slow it down too much.' I think as I walk to small bench table outfitted with a couple tools I use to upkeep my weapons. I place Ripper's blade into a vice and grab a small hammer and I start to hammer the blade back straight. After about five minutes I have the blade straight again as I grab a wet stone. I wet it and start to work my blade through it, after ten or so minutes it's edge is back to my standards. 'Well I guess I can head back into Vale, I was cut short of my tour last time so now is as good a time as any.'

* * *

White.

Blinding white is all I can see as I fall onto my backside. I can't hear anything as my head is just so focused on the color white. I start coughing as it feels like I am breathing in smoke. After I can only assume what feels like minutes my eyes soon adjust to where I am, the white slowly leaves my eyesight and is now replaced by remnants of smoke. 'What happened' I think to myself as I am now in full control of my senses minus a slight headache. 'WAIT! Where'd he go!?' I think as I begin to panic.

*SHINK!*

"AWWW!"

My mouth opens and I just let out a screech as I feel a horrible burn in my stomach. I slowly crumple to my knees as I look down and see a blade protruding from my stomach. The blade covered in red is quickly removed and I grasp both my hands to the wound in body as I fall onto the pool of my blood below me. I lay on the roof of the building trying to breath but it soon gets harder and harder with each breath that I take. 'Blake, Weiss, Yang... I'm sorry. Uncle Qrow... Dad.. Mo-'

I jolt awake as I clench my stomach. 'Nothing. It was just a nightmare.' I let out a sigh of relief as I begin to rub my still watering eyes. 'I can't let my team know about what happened on the roof. If Yang finds out she'll never leave me alone again. I love her but I need to learn how to fight some battles on my own, she can't be there every time. I need just keep training so I become strong enough to win my own battles. And milk, gotta keep drinking milk. I look over to the other bunks to to my relief everyone is still sound asleep. I look over to Blake her cat ears twitching beneath her bow as she sleeps. 'I'm just glad me and Penny could help her in time, I don't know what I would of done if something happened to her. I don't care if she was part of the White Fang, she's my teammate, but even more importantly she's my friend. I look beside my pillow to my scroll blinking with a notification light. 'I wonder who that could be?' I pick up the scroll to see a have a new text message. 'Slate?'

Slate - _Hey Ruby it's Slate. I heard there was a robbery by the docks last night. Does stuff always happen like this in Vale?_ -

I let a small laugh as begin typing into my scroll.

\- _Hehe... funny story about that. I may or may not have been involved._ -

Slate - _Wait? What!? What happened!? Are you okay!?_ -

\- _Yeah I'm fine. Well I was with my friend Penny looking for my teammate Blake, and being the huntress that she is, she was trying to stop a dust robbery with one of her friends. Anyways we ended of fighting these White Fang jerks and there was this other jerk I've ran into before there as well. We stopped them from stealing any of the dust and then the police showed to handle the rest. It was totally awesome, there was airships and explosions and laser beams and stuff and we totally saved the day!_

Slate - _Laser beams? Well I'm glad you didn't get hurt. I was busy yesterday with some errands but if your free today I was thinking we could hang out and you can tell me all of what happened in person._

\- _Sure that sounds like fun! We could do that this afternoon, what did you have mind?_

Slate - _Well I'm still kind of new to town and I don't really know my way around. I was hoping you could recommend something?_

\- _Okay no prob, I know this bakery in Vale Square that makes these awesome sweets. Ooooh you can meet my team too. We can all eat and chat there. Does 5pm sound good?_

Slate - _Yeah that sounds good with me, take it easy 'til then you're probably exhausted from yesterday. I'll see you then Ruby._

\- _Okay see you then!_

'Well I guess I can get everyone breakfast while their still asleep. Ooooh I hope their serving pancakes!' I think I change into my wardrobe a leave the room in a blur of petals towards the dining halls.

* * *

I make way over to what I think is Vale Square as pull out my scroll and refer to the map again. 'Yep should be just around the corner' I think as I check the time '16:45.' 'Never hurts to be a little early.' I tell myself as I walk around the block to see a large open square with a number of shops and stores lined up along it. 'I guess I'll just wait here until Ruby shows up because I'm not sure which building it is exactly.' I walk up next to a building and lean against waiting and I reach to check my scroll when I hear a distant "Hey!" I look up to see Ruby waving her hand high in the air, in tow with her team.

I walk over to her and her group. "Hey Ruby this your team?"

"Yup this my this is my sister Yang." Ruby says pointing to the bombshell of a Blonde with lilac eyes. 'Damn their sister? I wouldn't of guessed that just by going off looks.

"Nice to meet you." Yang says while she starts popping her knuckles. 'Uh-oh the overprotective type, I hope she doesn't think we're a thing,'

Ruby then points to her teammate in black and white. "This is Blake." She has long flowing black hair in about same length to Yang's but she has much thinner frame than Yang. Atop her head rests a black bow where I'm guessing she hides her faunus traits. 'Can't let them know I know about that though.'

"A pleasure." Blake says

Ruby then introduces her last teammate. "And this is my partner Weiss. Together we make up team RWBY, and before you ask, yes it does get confusing." She clad in all white with a very regal look to her. 'She looks very familiar but I can't narrow it down. Wait a second. Is it really her?'

"Greetings" Weiss says to me with a curtsy.

"Wait Weiss? As in Weiss Schnee heiress of the Schnee Dust Company?" I say to her.

"That is correct." Weiss says with a nod. 'Small world.' I think to myself.

"Well I didn't know I was going to be in the presence of royalty, I would of dressed up. I myself am from Atlas." I say to the group.

"Oh that isn't necessary." Weiss says with a small amount of redness to her face.

"Well I'm Slate." I say introducing myself. "I'm a student at the Atlas Hunter Academy, I'm here on my break to visit Vale during the festival and attend the Tournament."

"Oh are you participating in the tournament!?" Ruby asks me. 'Damn how am I going to say this...'

"Well my team did qualify for it but we had to withdraw." I say to Ruby dejectedly, the rest of the group giving me quizzical looks.

"What happened?" I turn to see Blake worriedly asking. Everyone in the group now had their eyes focused on me. 'Well that didn't by them at all, I don't want to lie to them anymore than I have to but I don't want to be completely dishonest with them. I guess no time like now.'

"Well..." I start keep my best facade of a poker face "During one of our missions we ran into unexpected resistance." I take a deep breath readying myself for the following words. "My partner Fuchsia didn't make it out." I say head hanging low.

"I-I'm sorry I d-didn't mean for to bring up anything you didn't want to." Blake says to me with a look of sorrow. I look to others and they are looking at me with similar expressions. 'Damn it I didn't want their pity, I'm stronger than that.' I say to myself as I feel a tear run down my face. 'Damn it man up, you're going to look weak in front of them.' I berate myself as feel hand grab my shoulder.

"Hey, I'm sure you did everything you could, so don't let that 'what if's' get to you. I know what it's like to lose someone. It's not easy, you just need to keep moving forward. Not just for them but for yourself." Yang says to me giving me a pat on the back.

"Thanks, I'm sorry for that everyone. Today wasn't supposed to be about me, how about we go get something to eat and Ruby here can tell me how she ended up saving the day." I say to the group.

"Sounds good. It's right this way" Ruby says taking me by the arm. We walk into the bakery to see sweets of all shapes and forms encased in glass shelves. "Oooh it smells so good. I think I'll get the chocolate chip cookies, oh no the strawberry cheesecake, no wait the chocolate dipped strawberries." I hear Ruby rambling on to no one in particular.

"You can have one of them Ruby! Feel free to get what you want everyone. My treat." Weiss say to us.

"Awww thanks Weiss." Yang says as she begins looking at the sweets herself.

* * *

After everyone has gotten their sweets we end up walking outside to eat at the tables the have by the shop. Almost immediately as we sit down Ruby starts digging into her strawberries. "So what exactly happened yesterday Ruby?" I ask.

"Wllll" Ruby stops to swallow before she continues on. "Well we were looking for our friend Blake here because we- got separated. Yeah separated." Ruby says while getting a small glare from her team. "I tried calling her but her scroll died." Anyways me and my friend Penny were busy looking when we heard an explosion. Being the huntress I am we decided to go check it out. When we got their Blake was already fighting these White Fang guys trying to rob a dust shipment. That's when I saw Roman Torchwick, I've had a run-in with him before and I was going to do my best to stop him and help my friend."

"Wait Roman the notorious criminal Roman from the news?" I ask. 'Shit so she does know my boss, this could be a huge problem in the long run.'

"Yeah that's him." Says Ruby "Anyways I was going to go face off with him when my friend Penny beat me to it, then just as was going to this other White Fang jerk gets in the way."

"You didn't mention anyone else Ruby" Blake says with a look of worry.

"Oh sorry it must of slipped my mind. Well this guy wasn't just some other White Fang member. He was wearing completely different gear, and he had this creepy grim looking mask, it had this big creepy smile with red streaks running down from the eyes that looked like blood. Bleh." Ruby says sticking out her tongue with a shake. "His weapon was a black falchion. Anyways we were fighting for a while until eventually I was hit with a bright light and he escaped, after that I ran over to Blake and her friend Sun. The police showed up not too much longer after that."

'Well she doesn't know it was me, I gotta be careful with Ripper around her though. Maybe this would be a good time to change it up or find a new weapon all together. I'd be a dead man if she ever found out.' "Well you sound like you guys are more than qualified for the tournament. I'll be sure to root for team RWBY."

As we finish eating our sweets the sun slowly starts to dip below the horizon. "Well I'd like to hang out with you guys some more but I don't want keep you too late. I'm assuming you have classes tomorrow?" I ask Team RWBY.

"Yeah.. we do" Yang says with a sigh. "Well it was nice meeting you Slate, we should do this again."

"Indeed." Agrees Weiss.

"Sure." Blake says with smile.

"Awww okay, how long are you going to be in town Slate?" Ruby asks me.

"Well my team was given an extended leave from classes after what happened. My teammates returned home but I chose to see the rest of the Kingdom's. We were given the option of withdrawing from our Academy if that's what we wanted. I thought would be a good time to do some soul searching. Figure out what I really want to do. I'm still unsure but when I make my choice I'll be sure to let you know, but to answer your question I'll be here for the duration of the festival for sure. You have my number Ruby so if you wanna hang out just let me know."

"Okay, we'll be in touch Slate!" Ruby says waving as she walks away with her team.

"Hey Slate! Remember what I said okay!?" Yang yells out to me.

"Yeah I will. Thanks Yang, see you guys later!" I say as I begin to make my way back to the warehouse. 'Yeah I'll remember, I can't ever forget.'


	14. Chapter 14: Two sides to a coin

It's been a little over two weeks since I hung out with team RWBY. I've been continuing my training with Neo in preparation of Roman assigning me another operation.

 ***SMACK***

I push myself up as Neo throws me to mat again, I brush myself off and readied my new sword taking a defensive stance as she began running at me.

* * *

 **Three days ago**

I needed a new weapon to keep up my life as a normal hunter. Plus with the way Neo has been training me a few changes could help me become a better fighter. 'Hmmm... I wonder what I could to Ripper to change it around? I guess I could build a new weapon from scratch, I still want to keep my pistol/blade design because it gives me a lot of flexibility. Who do I know that's good with weapons that could help me out with this? I've never been the best with the drawing up part of weapon designing, I'm much more of a hands on guy. If I get a rough idea of the mechanics on how to build it I'll have no problem creating it.'

I was currently at my favorite weapon shop Dust Nation. I was looking over lower receivers for the pistol section of my weapon when I came upon a realization. 'Hey wait isn't Ruby good with weapons?' I reached into my vest pocket and pulled out my scroll, I pulled up her contact information and gave her a call.

 ***RING-RING***

 ***RING-RING***

"Hey what's up Slate" Ruby answers.

"Hey Ruby, I wanted to see if you could help me out with something if you're not to busy."

"Well I was studying with Weiss but if it mean I can't get out of it then I'm all hears." Ruby replies as I hear Weiss yell 'Hey!' in the background.

"Well I was working on building a weapon and I needed some advice on types of materials to use."

"WAIT! REALLY! Oh I have so many questions. Where are you? This would be a lot easier in person." Ruby practically shouts to me in excitement.

'Wow she really does love weapons, I mean who doesn't though right?' "Actually I'm at Dust Nation in Vale right now looking over parts to get some ideas." I reply to her.

"Oh okay give me like an hour and I could be there, my team know how much I love weapons so they have no problem with me heading out there."

"Okay I'll just get something to eat and then I'll meet you at Dust Nation so we can go over some of my ideas."

"Sounds good see you then Slate."

"Alright see you Ruby." I hang up the scroll and walk out of the store. 'Hmm I wonder whats good to eat out here."

* * *

After about 20 minutes of wandering downtown Vale and one Simple Wok noodles trip later I made my way back to the weapon store. I made my to bench near the shop and pulled out my scroll to make sure I didn't have any new messages, (really to kill time), as I awaited Ruby's arrival. After about five minutes of killing time on my scroll I heard a quick clatter of boots as I see Ruby walking up the sidewalk.

"Hey Slate!" Ruby says to my with wave and large smile.

'She seems real eager to help me with my weapon.' "Hey Ruby, thanks for getting here so quick. I have some I made we can go over before we go in see what they have." I say to her while pulling out a notebook from my vest. 'Oum bless pockets.'

"Okay so what kind of weapon are you going for. A gun? Bladed? Blunt? Mace? Bow? Spear!? One handed!? Two handed!?" Ruby hastily asks me as she starts to run out of breath.

"Woh, calm down their Ruby, I was looking for something to compliment my sniper rifle. Preferably some sort of gun blade."

"Oh sorry, well that does help narrow it down. Well if it's to help compliment or even compensate for the lack of direct fighting ability of your Sniper then I'd recommend something one handed. Blake has a pistol built into her sword so I could use that as a starting ground. Did you want to be able to use the fire the weapon at all times or did you want to shift the weapon for each of its uses." Ruby ask me as she pulls out a small notebook of her own and starts to make small doodles of her ideas.

"To tell you the truth I haven't even thought that far ahead, I've been thinking about the materials I should be using. How did you get so knowledgeable about weapons?" I ask her as I watch her continue to make doodles on her pad.

"Oh well you see both my parents were hunters. When I was little my dad would always read me stories of heroes and heroins always saving the day. I guess you could say I was drawn to it, I also had an uncle that said if I wanted to become a huntress he'd show me all he could to best prepare me. He taught me everything from weapon design to Grimm migration cycles. He really took me under his wing and I've loved studying at Beacon ever since." Ruby says to me with a smile on her face.

'Kinda makes me wish I got to finish my chance that I had.' I think to myself, I shake myself free of those thoughts and begin to look back over my notes. "So Ruby what kind of blade do you think would be best for a weapon of this type? Single or double edged?"

"Well that all depends you personal preference. I like single-edged because it gives you defensively capabilities. Two-edged blades have their uses but if things get ugly they can be used against you." Ruby says to me as she begins to look at my notes.

"Well what do you think about an estoc? It's very capable of blocking and is light enough not only to be used as a one-handed weapon but can be used to redirect enemies attacks."

"Yeah that could work, although I've never used a weapon of that kind before. You're definitely going to want to stay with some lighter materials though, nothing too light though, you're going to want in to still be sturdy."

"Makes sense, well now that we have a blade in mind time fore the weapon. I'd be fine with a sidearm, some sort of dust powered pistol of some sort. What kind of caliber do you think use large or small?"

"Well the bigger the better in my opinion, but that's just Crescent Rose talking." Says Ruby as she draws said weapon and begins embracing it.

"How long did you work on Crescent Rose before it got to where it's at today?" I ask her

"Well it all started when I first got to Signal. We were told we'd get to develop are own weapon. My uncle was still training me at the time and he was one of the teachers there as well. He's like a master scythe wielder so he taught me how to use one and at that moment I just knew I had to have one to call my own. Sooo after a few weeks of scribbling up doodles of scythe's I started to develop Crescent Rose. I just kept adding and adding to her and here she is." Ruby said as she held to me.

"May I?" I ask and she just nods in return with a big smile on her face. I grab the pole shaft of Crescent Rose and immediately underestimate its weight as I nearly double over. "Dang Ruby I'm impressed, you must be seriously strong in order to move this thing around so quickly." I say to her as I do my best to swing around the scythe. 'Damn it would take a while to get used to a weapon as heavy as this is, no wonder she's so fast, once she get's enough momentum going with this thing it would hurt to be the one to stop her. No wonder she gave me so much trouble back then.' I think as Ruby's cheeks are a bit red from my comment.

"Oh stop." Ruby says covering her face with her hood. "I mean I do drink milk."

"So that's your secret huh?" I say and then we share a small laugh. "So onto the caliber I'm thinking something smaller, something I could use in rapid succession with my blade without me having to manage recoil."

"Yeah I think that would work better, going for speed eh? That's something I could always agree with." She says to me. "So know that we have a baseline you want to go check out what they have inside?"

"Yeah let's do it." I say as I walk open to the store and hold the door open for her. I follow her in and we make are way towards the gun section of the store. After about an hour of going back and forth with Ruby on what parts to get we are finally on the last part of the weapon.

"So it comes to two choices for the what the estoc will be made of. Either Titanium or reinforced steel. Titanium is the lighter stronger choice but more expensive." I tell Ruby as she mulls over it.

"Well if you have the lien I'd definitely go titanium." Ruby says.

"Well there is a third option."

Ruby and I turn are heads to the worker behind the counter. "What do you mean?" We ask in unison.

"Well we there is a new type of metal its pretty expensive but it is second to none is quality. It's a material fresh from Atlas, it uses microscopic tubes built out of carbon fiber and is extremely light yet almost 200 times stronger than steel."

"Wow..." Ruby says as her jaw drops.

"How much would a blade cost?" I ask the worker

"Well it depends on the blade." They reply. I pull out my sketch of the estoc I had in mind and place on the counter.

"Could have a estoc built to the dimensions?" I ask

"Certainly, judging by the type of weapon in wil certainly save you some lien due to an estoc being a slimmer weapon. It will still run you about 125,00 lien." 'Damn that's a lot, I have that much on me but that would leave me broke not to mention the other parts I want to buy.'

"Do you do a payment program?" I ask. 'I could make that in no time working with Roman.'

"Yes we do actually, you have to pay at least 25% of the cost upfront though, and it would run it up by 10,000 lien."

"Done." I say putting the said lien on the counter. 'Worth.' "How long will it take to be ready."

"Well normally it would be next day but since it's a new type of material I'd say three days."

Soon after filling out some forms I begin to walk out of the store with my other parts in tow. "That's so cool you're weapon is getting a new fancy metal. I think Crescent Rose might be a little jealous."

"Thanks Ruby, also don't think I'm not going to reward you for dropping everything on a moments notice to help me out, I really appreciate it."

"Well that's what friends are for." Ruby says to me as we walk towards the bakery we went to last time we hung out. After another hour of chit-chat and what I thought was two platters of cookies I walked Ruby back to the Vale Air Depot.

"Now really Ruby if you ever need anything just give me a call okay?" I tell her

"You got it. See ya Slate!" She says but not before she pulls me into hug. She then quickly disappears into a cloud of red petals as the doors close on the airship. 'Well what do I do until the weapon is ready?'

* * *

'Ugh I hope he didn't think that was weird or anything. I mean friends give hugs to each other all the time right? Gah why do you have to be so awkward Ruby?' I berate myself as I walk off the airship. We landed at Beacon's air-pad and as I'm walking back through the school I'm about to turn into the hallway of my room until something grabs me and pulls me against the wall.

"So how was your date Rubes?" Yang asks me catching me completely off guard.

"W-What are you talking about Yang!?" 'I can't help as my face goes a little red.

"Soooo it was a date!"

"NO! I just helped Slate design his new weapon. It wasn't a date!"

"Oh... well that's too bad for him then." Yang says as she let's go of me. 'Redness again taking hold of my facial features.' "Come on Rubes just because you skipped out on study time earlier doesn't mean Weiss wont catch up with you now.

"Ugh that's right.. Okay let's go." I say as we walk back to the dorm. 'Weapons are so much cooler then homework.'

* * *

"Oh that's what I did with my time' as I ready my new weapon against Neo. She still has been kicking my ass during hand-to-hand. 'But hey you managed to get two hits in today! That's two more than yesterday. Shut up brain.' Neo sports a large grin as she shatters into thin air only to reappear with her umbrella. 'She hasn't fought me with my new weapon yet, so I got that going for me. Then again I still have a lot of training with it myself until I'm anywhere near up to speed. I aim the pistol at her at I begin to pull the trigger as quickly as possible. Rounds start pouring out at a near automatic rate as I blow through the 20 round magazine in no time at all. Neo simply goes into a crouch to and uses her umbrella to shield all my shots. I quickly swap magazines and unfurl my estoc and run at her. I begin making quick let and right slashes at her as she 'being Neo' blocks or dodges them. What she was surprised by though is how I haven't let up on my attacks, coming at a near constant stream. 'This blade is so light I feel like I can keep this up all day. I love you Ripper but I'm going to have fun with Mortem. I turn my swipes into jabs and stabs as I continue to attack her not giving her a chance to find an opening. After a near minute of my attacks I hit pay dirt as I see her pupils go near white as I stab through her coat, leaving a hole in it. She immediately jumps back and looks down to her jacket. She then looks up to me holding up both hands in a 'what the hell' gesture, only for her to shatter and as I look for her a receive a boot to the back my head knocking me to the ground and nearly unconscious. The edges of my vision dark I look up only to see a scroll in my face.

'You're getting better. Although if damage my jacket again I'll show you what true pain is'

"Understood." I say as she lends me her hand and pulls me up. She begins typing in her scroll again and then shows it to me.

'Roman wants to see us in his briefing room in thirty, so go get cleaned up and I'll meet you there.' As I finish reading she once again vanishes in a blur a she uses her semblance to leave.

'That has to be tiring.' I think as I head to my room to shower up and stow my gear.

After I finished up in my room I walked over to Roman's 'war room' and knocked on the the door.

"Get in here!" I hear him shout from the other side as I open the door and enter.

"Good now that your here I can begin briefing you two." Roman says as he gestures towards Neo who is already looking over a few pieces of paper. I stand beside her and Roman pulls out his scroll and begins to look over a map of Vale. "An associate of mine has brought to my attention that Atlas recently has been slacking on their security of some their high-grade military tech. I will be sending Neo and you, as well as some of your White Fang buddies to go re-acquisition some of their tech. With this equipment we'll be to boost White Fang support in the area of Vale. And if White Fang numbers are boosted that means our numbers are boosted. More of them just means we'll have more manpower whenever the next step of our mission is ready to take effect. And yes when I found out when and where that is you two will be the first to know. So any questions?"

"Yeah. When do we start?"

* * *

 **Hey y'all sorry this one took a little longer then I wanted to get uploaded, but alas it's here. I couple of no so subtle shout-outs in this chapter to *cough* death gun *cough* but I liked to the way this one came out. The next chapter will feature some more non-canon moments but I'd always imagined how Roman got his hand on some Paladins, well stay tuned you'll find out. -MidKnight209**


	15. Chapter 15: Sons of Plunder

"So we're going to be targeting Atlas after we we're supposed to be laying low?" I ask Neo. She turns to me and answers me with a helpful shrug. "I guess orders are orders huh?" I say to her as she begins to type in her scroll.

- _Better to get it over with and ask questions later._ -She shows me with her scroll. 'Eh she's got a point, I wonder what kind of gear they are packing. It isn't like Roman to just up and change his game plan, this has to be a real game changer. Well best get my affairs in order we have three days to get our act straight before we hit this supply movement.'

"Hey Neo I'm going to gather as much information I can on this movement. You still down to beat me to down into a pulp later? 8 o'clock good?"

Neo simply gives me a nod with a smirk on her face. 'Well there's at least one thing handled.' I make my way back to my room and lay back in my bed and let my thoughts over-take me. 'I think I'm starting to make real progress with my hand-to-hand and weapon combat. It's hard to from just watching are spars but I've actually managed to get a hit on her from time to time. Granted that one hit in a fight doesn't mean much unless you hit like a freight train, but hey progress is progress. If anything I've become much more patient when I'm fighting, striking just when the time is right and staying defensive until that moment. I was never gifted with great strength or speed but damn it feels a whole lot better when effort and hard work pays off. Hell I was a garbage sniper until I started it real seriously, and after months and years of training I became the sharpshooter I am today. I just hope Neo can be that patient with me. I always wondered why she helped me trained, she's so damn hard to read, especially so that she doesn't talk. Still though, she doesn't need to help me, she could just go her own way and still excel in every way but she takes the time to teach and train me. Personally I don't know why she does it but I really don't care. It just feels good to have a partner again...

'Fuchsia. I've been trying my hardest to move on from my grieving. But lately I've started seeing her in my dreams, the one place I can't escape. It's always good to see her face again, to talk to her, but it hurts all the more when I wake up and she's still gone. I'll never get her back, part of me just wants to move on but I don't know if I can just let go, would she want me to forget and move one? No, I'll never forget. I'll take my memories of better times and use them to fuel me forward. I owe her that much. Hell what would she think of me now? A faux member of the White Fang working with known criminals. What we were doing was good right? We.. I was more than just a criminal? We were helping the Faunus fight for equality, even if it was through less then ideal means we were still trying to help, a lot more then what was currently being done for the faunus. Sitting back and waiting for change wasn't going to do it. Hell I remember all the crap Fuchsia got when we first became team SLYR. I didn't back down to the hate then and I won't now. I'll do what it takes for her people to finally be respected. I just wish people didn't have the prejudice in the first place, I don't have time for that though. Even though I am no longer a huntsmen I'll carry the values I learned to bring peace among humans and faunus. The easy way. Or the hard way.'

'Man I don't think I'm going to get much done today, might as well and try to get some rest before my beating.'

* * *

* **CRACK** *

I tumbled against the ground until I came unto an inevitable stop. I tiredly pushed myself up only to be met with Neo's parasol, she cracked my in the face as I was knocked to my back. I used the momentum from the blow and jumped back in a handspring and got into my stance, my estoc held low in my right hand. Neo came rushing at me and I expected for her to finish me off, she opened her parasol and swing in wide arc at me. I leaned back as far as I could placing my left hand against the ground to brace myself, she followed by going low and sweeping my legs with a spinning left kick. I jumped at the last possible second and she whiffed leaving me a small window. I decided to go for broke and dropped Mortem, I then regained my balance and dove at her. I caught her by surprise with my tackle and completely laid her out, I shifted as quickly as possible and I caught her in full mount. She responded by trying the smack me with her parasol but I expected that and countered with a high elbow and disarmed her. She then went completely defensive by shielding her face, I started by trying quick jab to her midsection trying to get her to drop her defense. After several elbows to her ribs she gave me a small opening and I threw a right elbow to her face. I made contact but it was not what I wanted as I broke what seemed to be a mirror. I still had full mount but she grabbed my elbow and pulled it in quickly shifting her body around until she had me in a arm-bar. I grit my teeth as she begin to pull. 'Damn it I was so close! I should of expected her to use her semblance she wouldn't take a loss if she could prevent it.' I soon reached my breaking point and I tapped out. "Okay! Okay! You got me!" I said between grinding teeth. She gave one last jerk and released me. She released herself and then helped me up as I started to rotate and shake my arm out. Neo took a deep breath and walked over to her scroll and began typing.

\- _That was a risky move, but you had a window and you took it. Were it anyone else you would have had them, but as you know I have some tricks up my sleeve._ \- She showed my her scroll with that same damn smirk of hers.

\- _You're getting better though, you're learning quicker then I expected. You may be useful after all._ \- She says to me sticking out her tongue to re-emphasize her last statement.

"Thanks.." I say to her with a bit of sarcasm. We then begin walking towards her quarters until she came to a stop and pulled out her scroll.

\- _So I managed to scrap some more information from Roman on our operation._ -

"Really now, what are we working with?"

\- _Well this is bigger then I expected, we are going to need a lot of our White Fang allies to pull this off. Were not just going after their dust and supplies._ -

"Then what are we hitting? I mean how big of a robbery are we pulling here Neo?"

\- _Our primary target is their Atlesian Paladins._ -

"Wait those mech units General Ironwood has been flaunting in the news and assemblies!? How are we going to ride off with those we'd need a large scale operation to pull that off."

\- _It shouldn't be impossible, right now those mechs are in a prototype stage, a majority of Atlas soldiers won't know how to operate them so they shouldn't be a threat. What will be a threat is the high security guarding them. There's too many of them to make this a covert op so we are going to have to hit them fast and hard. They are certainly going to be able to call for backup so we need to completely eliminate their defenses and run off with the equipment before reinforcements arrive._ -

"Well damn, I guess I better get some schematics and layouts of the location so I can get as close as possible so we can strike. Thanks for the heads up Neo I'll get in contact with you more tomorrow so we can hammer this plan out, I'll let some the higher White Fang members know of what's going down."

\- _Oh and Roman's pulling a lot of strings here so there will be even more White Fang members arriving tomorrow to assist on this mission._ \- Neo 'says' to me as she departed to her quarters.

'Great. Hopefully their lenient as the members here. Not all White Fang members will be thrilled to be taking orders from a human. The one's here are okay with it because they know how I helped with the village all that time ago. Well this just keeps getting more and more interesting.

* * *

After a long night of going through various files pertaining the mission I approached the center table in the war room. I laid across it and started making various markings upon it.

"I thought I'd never see you face again." Someone called out in a deep voice. I turned to see who called out only to see a familiar face..err mask.

"Bane?" I said taken back a bit. 'It's been months since the incident, and I was honestly surprised to see him.' "It's been a while hasn't it?"

"That it has... I last said to you the White Fang had no use in you, but it appears I may have underestimated a human. I've been keeping track of you, White Fang lieutenants don't just pop up out of nowhere. It seems you've been busy here, and for a human you've actually shown potential. You're not the first human to have advanced in our ranks but it has certainly been a long time since we've seen one." Bane says to me as walks up to me. "But let me make this clear, when we're out the field these are my brothers. My men. Not yours, I've been a member since birth. Me and my brothers will help you in this operation but I will have complete control of them. If I think for one second your sending them to their deaths I will call them off and you'll be on your own. I don't care how much this operation can strengthen the White Fang. My brothers and sisters lives come first. Do I make myself clear?" Bane says to me face to face.

"Understood. I have no intention of dooming your men and women for a potential advantage." I say to him earning a small 'hmph' in return. "After all I wouldn't be here were it for you, you gave me an opportunity, a second chance, and I am forever grateful for that." 'If only my former team leader cared about his team as much as Bane did, who knows where I'd be now. Funny how something as small as a judgement call can change a life, in turn changing many other lives, continuing on and on until the world is the way it is today. But that's life huh... I could of left Fuchsia to her demise as well but what kind of person would that have molded me into. I'm just glad I never had to find that out.'

"Okay can I have everyone's attention!" I call out to everyone in the room. Bane and several of his fellow soldiers turn to face me and Neo is at my side. "As you all know we've all been brought here to work together in a joint mission. For those White Fang members that came from the outside of the Kingdom of Vale I appreciate you coming here, this mission is of great importance to our cause and every soldier we have will only help our odds of success. Now to the point." I say while highlighting some points on the map and pulling out my scroll and syncing it with a projector. "We are launching a raid on a Atlas military convoy. Now the convoy is being moved via train." As I say this images from my scroll of Atlesian Paladins appear on the screen. "Not only will they be moving dust and ammunition, they will be moving Atlesian Paladins into Kingdom of Vale. Due to rate of crime and high grimm activity Atlas plans to be deploying large numbers of Atlesian soldiers and Warships into Vale, these Paladins will be our primary target. By targeting these Paladins not only will we gain a valuable asset for own forces we will also deal a blow to the Atlesian army's ground forces. Now I know what you are all thinking if we attack this convoy why don't they just use these mechs against us. Do not worry these mechs are still in a prototype stage and are not battle ready, once we acquire them for ourselves our engineers can get them up and ready to turn the tide against Atlas."

"So you told us what we are raiding, how are we doing it?" One the White Fang members along side Bane asks.

"I'm glad you asked. Now Atlas plans on moving this train as covertly as possible, this train will be moving in the middle of the night, 1800 to be precise. At 0230 this train be near the forest of Forever Fall, this is were we will launch our ambush." I saying pointing to the location on the map. "Several Atlesian gunships will be escorting the train, are plan is to attack them near the beginning of the forest. Our primary focus is to draw the fire of the gunships, once we begin to to attack the convoy the train will increase its speed in order to try and escape with as little damage as possible. That is our goal, 2 miles down the road from the planned ambush point there is a bend in the tracks, once the train nears that location we will have dust charges already set and detonate them. The train will not have enough time to stop and it will derail. This is where you come in, half a mile from the derailing point we will have bullheads using the dense forest to lay in wait. Our gunships will ascend first and attack the any remaining Atlesian forces, by this point your pilots primary target will be any remaining gunships as they are the biggest threat. After their defenses are thoroughly weakened the remaining bullheads will reveal themselves and move to begin securing the cargo. For this we are going to need at least two dozen bullheads. Six of them being gunships and the remaining 18 being outfitted for cargo movement. We will have to move fast on this mission, not only will Atlas being call for reaction forces to respond to any threats but Grimm residing in Forever Fall will surely be drawn to the commotion. If we move quickly not only will we be able to avoid Atlas reinforcements, the Grimm will play right into our hands and end up attacking their forces giving us a clean getaway. Are there any questions?"

"Yeah when is this raid beginning?" The same Fang member asks.

"Preparation begins today, we will dispatch our forces at 2200 tonight. We will set up encampment where our bullheads will be awaiting. So we'll be clearing out any Grimm that want to stick their noses in our affairs. Now move out!" I order. The Fang members soon pile out of the room leaving Neo, Bane, and myself remaining. "Bane?" I call out. He stands near the map arms crossed looking over the details.

"What do you need?" He asks still overlooking the information.

"I need your help, Neo and I will be leading the primary diversion, but even someone as skilled as Neo can't carry me through this. I need you and your best men to help with this diversion. For this plan we are going to board the train and cause as much havoc as possible, but we can't board the train with the gunships keeping over watch. If your men can attract the gunships attention we can board and pull the remaining forces attention, Atlas won't shoot at their own train to avoid collateral damage so most likely they'll try to board themselves pulling their attention away from the dust charges set further down the road."

"So you want me to be your bait!? You humans are all the same." Bane says now staring me down face to face. 'Well more like chest to face as he easily is outsizes me.' Neo steps to my side as she comes to my defense but I wave her off.

"No, I need you because I don't have the eyesight in the darkness like you do. Plus I have these to help you." I say gesturing to Neo as she walks over to large hard-case. She unlatches the buckles and pulls out is contents. Inside are two launchers. "These are two havoc ground-to-air missile launches. They are heat-seeking missiles launchers they can reacquire their target even after countermeasures. Their the best lien can buy and should make short work of their gunships. The moment you hit your first targets Neo and I going to fire off special flares that contain chaff, this will interfere with most of their targeting systems and at that time you will make your escape. I'll have a small bullhead to personally escort you and your men. What do you say?" I ask still unsure if he'll take the deal, even with the havoc missile launchers is still be dangerous.

"I'll accept your offer, but I want a larger cut for my efforts." He replies still un-moving from are stare down.

"Done, it will come from my take." I say as I hold out my hand to cement to offer. After a moment he takes it and the operation is now a go.

"Alright Neo let's get ready." I say to her as we walk out of the room. 'This is going to be a long two days.'

* * *

The bullhead shaked and rattled as we approached our destination. I sat holding one of the chest restraints as and I looked across to Neo who was dozing off apparently catching up on sleep. " _Five minutes until drop-off_ " The pilot called over the intercom. Neo woke up irritated from the interruption. 'Well if she was worried about the mission she's sure not showing it. Hell a million things could go wrong and cause this mission to fail. The Grimm could show up early and derail our forces, the Atlas response force could be nearby and shut us down before we even started to move the cargo. Eh best not to think what could go wrong and focus on the mission ahead, if I get caught on the 'what-ifs' I'll lose focus on my task.' I pulled out Snapshot from one of the weapon mounts I stored it in and loaded a magazine in. Neo nonchalantly started twirling her parasol. 'Alright first task clear out any nearby Grimm and set up shop.' "15 seconds until touch down!" The pilot called over as the bay door started to open, I undid my restraints and took a kneeling position waiting for the door to fully open. As the door opened the bullhead took a hovering position fifty feet above the ground.

Neo an I exchange a nod and we both ran out. I landed in a roll and Neo landed in a low crouch. I began scanning my surroundings and I scanned through my scope engaging it's night-vision. It looked around the foliage as looked for sign of movement. Behind me more bullheads started to hover as White Fang members started to pile out of the ships. Several members ran up beside me as we set up a perimeter. The bushes 100 meters in front of us started to rustle and I took aim. Unfortunately for me the members next to me didn't have my same patience and began unloading into to foliage. They continued firing until I heard the weapons click as they expended their clips. The bush continued to rustle and out from the bush came out large elk which took 3 wobbly steps and proceeded to fall over dead. "Damn it have some trigger discipline guys is was just a damn elk!"

"Sorry.." The soldiers whined out.

"Alright every one push out and set up a perimeter! Give the bullheads enough room to land!" I called out as the members started to move forward, weapons at the ready. After 20 minutes we had a perimeter set up and I went to the center of and met up with Bane. "Hey Bane our perimeter is set, let's get these birds on the ground. Once that's done set up a guard however you'd like."

"It will be done." He said to me as he pulled a radio issuing orders for his bullheads to land. Shortly one by one the bullheads landed dropping of any remaining White Fang members. They immediately started setting up tents as we prepared to bunker down for the night.

After an hour so everything was set up. Fortunately for us we had little to no Grimm resistance. I walked into the main tent and started to set up my map over the table so we could over the plan again before the attack tomorrow night. Neo was already there fast asleep on a cot set up in the corner of the tent. 'That's not a bad idea.' I thought to myself as I looked over the map of the dozenth time. 'Guess there's nothing to do but wait now'

* * *

I sat with my back against a tree trunk as I continued to watch the train tracks. I spared a glance to my scroll set in my weapon.

' _0220'_

'The train should be here any moment.' I though as I continued peering through my scope. Then I saw it, a faint pair of lights coming down the railway. I pulled up my radio and held in the the talk button. "This is Red One I have visual on the package. How copy?"

"Black One reads you loud and clear, all forces are in position." Bane replies

"Roger Black One, wait for my laze to engage."

"Got it."

I sling Snapshot and reach into my satchel pack I brought for the mission and pull out a laser designator. I zoom into the maximum setting and I can make out an Atlesian gunship traveling alongside the train. I wait another minute or so until I have a clear visual of the airship and I press and hold a button. The laser designator soon begins to make a continuing beeping sound until it stops with a click. I proceed to target another ship until it is lazed as well. I store the designator and pull up the radio once more. "Fire when ready."

I once again take aim with Snapshot and focus my sights on the gunships. 'Here we go.' The next instant I see two white streaks fly into the air. The Atlesian gunships try to use countermeasures but it is no use as the rockets plow into the two lead airships. I see and hear a large explosion as the ships start to spiral out of control and eventually crash into the treeline. The remaining airships start to spread out as they try to find the attackers. I scan to my left see Neo begin to fire off her flares to assist Bane and his soldiers escape. The train starts accelerating and that's my cue to get into position. I shoulder Snapshot and start running up a hillside that is near the train. I wait patiently as train nears my position, I see another pair of rockets fly into two more gunships blasting them out of the air. The front of the train passes my hill as I begin to slide down, as I reach the apex of my fall I jump unsheathing Mortem as I stab it into the top of a container. I channel my aura in order to keep my shoulder inside its socket. I come to a stop and begin to overlook my surroundings. I can hear gunships in buzzing overhead, 'Okay three left are ambush can handle that. One of said gunships has it's searchlights set on the train further to the rear. 'I'm assuming that's Neo.' The other two are firing wildly into the treeline unsure of where they are being attacked from.

'Just gotta keep them distracted.' I think as run down the train, I reach an open section and Atlesian knights and soldiers alike are filing out one of the containers. 'Hmm looks like their the new 200 models.' I shift Mortem into it's pistol form and begin to open fire into the crowd. I drop four of them before they know what hit them and I quickly change magazines. The remaining dozen begin to open fire on me. I keep low running forward doing my best to avoid the fire, I grit my teeth as I take a couple hits from their rifles but my aura manages to keep me going. I slide into the cover behind a crate and return fire, I drop another two and hide back behind the crate. They continue to fire at my cover and it begins to deteriorate. 'Damn it I have to move now!' I pull out a smoke canister and throw it next to my position. I lay prone as I wait for smoke to build up. I shift to my estoc and with all might I take a step off the crate a jump into the center of the knights. I trigger my semblance blinding them, but unlike the old models they continue to fire wildly regardless if they can target me a not. I start tearing into the robots as some of the human soldiers are hit by friendly fire, I do my best to evade their shots and their numbers start to dwindle. 'Well these things aren't too smart.' I think as continue to take them out. As the last 200 falls I feel something pressed against the back of my head.

"DROP THE WEAPON!" The soldier yells at me. 'Damn it, I focused to much on the knights and this guy got the slip on me.' I hold out my weapon and drop it to my side. Three of the remaining soldiers take position in front of me, weapons all aimed at me. I feel a kick to the back of my knee bringing me down to a kneel. 'Shit shit shit, what do I do now? They got my surrounded, I could try my semblance again but they're already aimed at me and could just unload into me. I screwed this up.' The soldier then cuffs my hands and sends a boot into my back, flooring me.

"Sir I have one of the White Fang higher ups in custody. What do you want me to do with h-"

I hear a crack and the soldier is sent flying into the other three. "Neo!?" I say out loud as she runs into the group and starts to pick them apart. The first are sent into a wall knocking them out, Neo then uses her parasol to send the third off the train. The remaining soldier is trying to shake out his concussive state but Neo pulls a thin blade out of her parasol and sends it throw his chest. The soldier tries to get up from the wound but eventually succumbs to it falling in a pool of his own blood. 'Shit she doesn't mess around.' She then take her blade and sends it through my cuffs freeing me. "Damn it I owe you big time Neo thanks." She gives me a grin a gives an overemphasized nod.

We both take get the roof of the container and I holster estoc and pull out Snapshot to see how far we are along the railway. Neo expands her parasol to cover me. I can see the bend approaching and I shoulder my rifle and pull out the detonator. I toss it to Neo who catches it with a bit of surprise. "You can do it, it's the least I can do on short notice." She sports a huge smile and flips off the cover. She then engages the switch and the dust charges detonate. I can see the explosion from my position. Neo is practically jumping with joy as the tracks are torn to shreds. The train immediately begins to screech as the brakes are applied. "Alright let's get out of here!" Neo runs up to me and grabs my hand and we disappear into a flash of light.

We reappear back into the forest next to our bullhead. We jump into the back and I run to the pilot door and bang on it. "I need a visual on the train! Get us there now!" The bullhead immediately lifts up and takes off towards the train tracks. Once we have enough elevation I pull out Snapshot and zoom in on the tracks. The train is laying on it's side as it's cargo a strewn about. The remaining gunships spotlights focused on the carnage. 'Perfect.' I pull out my radio and call out. "Black One the package is down! I say again the package is down!"

As I say that bullheads immediately start converging on the downed train. The White Fang gunships begin opening fire on the Atlesian ships. The Atlesian ships are soon taken care of and I can see White Fang soldiers start to secure hooks onto the cargo. "Black One we are in route to the rendezvous position, ETA 3 mikes." We descend unto the pick up spot and Bane and his three soldiers board our ship. "Alright take us back to the train!" I call out to the pilot. We start making are way there as I take my scroll and try to start scanning for radio traffic. I pick up a lot of activity as that means Atlesian forces are probably en route.

After another minute or so we reach the train. Majority of the cargo has been secured and loaded onto the bullheads, the remainder be loaded as I watch. "We have two mikes until we depart! Get a move on!" I call over on all channels. The last of the cargo is loaded and we take off as a formation back to the docks. As we are leaving we see large flock of Nevermores descending upon the train. 'Just in the nick of time, damn we actually did it.' I pull out my scroll and send a message to a contact. A moment later I get a call.

"So how'd it go?" Roman asks.

"Mission is successful, we are en route with the package."

"Splendid, I'll see you then." He replies and the line goes dead.

"Mission accomplished everyone, what's the damage?" I ask Bane.

"I'm receiving zero casualties, you have my gratitude for that." Bane replies still conferring with his men over the radio.

'Damn no casualties, I was expected at least a downed ship or two. We actually did it, relatively unharmed no less. Now with the stock we got we can be force to be reckoned with.' I turn to Neo and lay a hand on her shoulder. "Thanks again Neo, I was in a bad situation there, I was a goner were it for you." She responds with a roll of her eyes and types into her scroll.

\- _Everyone makes mistakes, I'm just glad I was there to fix yours. Maybe one day you'll fix one of mine._ -

"Yeah... one day." I say as I sit back down in my seat. 'One day.'

* * *

"48 Atleasian Paladins. 15 of which need repairs. 5 tons of uncut dust. 1 ton of various dust ammunition. Hell kid that's one hell of a take. With all this we should be set to advance our cause. I'll report this in to my acquaintance and I'll give you an update from there." Roman says as he begins to walk off.

"Hey Roman I need to ask something real quick."

"Yeah what is it kid?" He asks with a raised brow.

"I wanted to know if I could get a week or two off? There's something I've been need to take care of." I ask.

"And that is?"

"I need to head back to Atlas, see an old acquaintance of mine."

"Payback huh? I've been wondering when you'd ask me. Hell I thought I would be sooner. Well seeing as we have some time to kill why not, just send a message into me when your returning. Don't do anything too dumb and get yourself locked up. I'll need you for the next part of our operation."

"Will do Roman." I say as he starts to make some calls.

'Robbie, Yoshimitsu it's time we had a talk.'

* * *

 **AN: Hey everybody, sorry for the wait. Had a bit of writer's block starting this chapter out but once I figured that out it was smooth sailing from there. My updates in the coming month may be a bit less frequent as I am going to be moving to the other side of the world for a some time, I may have a period of inactivity for a while as I figure out setting up my interwebz there. Anyways back to the story, I'm making it a goal of mine to have longer chapters in the future with my goal being between 4K - 10k. Don't know if I'll ever hit that 10K chapter but that's what goals are for. We are reaching a major plot point in the story and I'm really looking forward to fleshing that out. Thanks to all that have fav/followed. Your awesome. Also if I haven't stated it before I clearly do not own RWBY.**


	16. Chapter 16: Divide

'I always hated long plane rides' I thought to myself as we barely leveled out at the cruising altitude. 'There's never really anything to do on a long plane ride besides sleeping or passing time on your scroll, and the purpose of this trip has me a bit on edge. It's been months since I've seen my remaining teammates. The last time we talked was when the left Fuchsia and myself on our own to 'go get back up.' Cowards. They were just saving their own hides and hoping we could pull off a miracle and help that village. And why did they leave? Sure the White Fang were present in the village that was under attack, but what reason was that to leave them for dead, they're still people. What were they thinking? Even if we we're ordered not to intervene with that militia they wouldn't of attacked us if we were trying to help, which they didn't.' My anger soon got the best of me as I soon noticed the water bottle I was holding bursted between my fingers. "Shit." I got out of my seat and grabbed a small towel and started to clean up my mess. I sat down again and plugged headphones into my scroll and turned on some music help myself relax.

'How am I even going to confront my ex-teammates? It's not like I can just stroll up to the school and be like "hey I'm still alive and I'm now part of the White Fang." Hell I wonder if they even tried to search for me. From what I've heard from some of the other Fang members is that reinforcements eventually reached the village, so surely they know about at Fuchsia, but as far as they know about me is that I either A: Died as well or B: I went missing. I went and smashed my scroll after that mission so they couldn't track me down. I wonder if they even gave a damn, knowing both of their backgrounds they continued going through classes. In the event that a team loss members there was a number of options the remaining team members could take. They join up with a team that met a similar fate, they could take in new team members if from a year below if they showed exceptional talent or from a year above if they were struggling. Or in very rare cases be allowed to continue with what remaining members they had. Whatever the case was I had to figure out a way to lure them out so we could have a "chat," There's no way I'm letting them get away for abandoning Fuchsia and myself. I'd teach them a damn lesson more important than any of the ones we learned in class.'

The first step was simple enough, get to Atlas. Once I got back to my home kingdom I could actually take action in any of my plans. As for step two, that was more complicated. My plan is to find a somewhere to stay that's close enough to the Academy that I can find them, but not too close were I could run into them unexpectedly.' I pulled out my scroll and pulled up a map of some nearby towns. 'No that's too close, I could run into them just going for a walk, no too far it would a hassle to track them down. Wait. There perfect. I town about seven miles away from Atlas Hunter Academies closest city. Daggerfall, a small town that was very rural and in worse case scenario I could hide in the woodlands if shit really hits the fan. It's pretty cold this time of the year as it is near the end of winter. Sure in Vale the weather was pretty nice year round but here in Atlas sometimes it's almost a never-ending season of snow. Eh I could adjust to that but now here comes the final and hardest part of the plan. Step three, contact. I can't meet them at the Academy, there's too many people around and they'd surely interfere. I could try to contact them via scroll but I'd need to get my hands on an unmarked number or a communications tower, I just want to be untraceable. I can reveal myself to them but I'd rather not let any one else know. No I can't call it will blow my cover just trying to make contact. Looks like I don't have a choice, my only option happens to be the riskiest option. I'm going to have to infiltrate the Academy and leave some sort of direct threat. Perhaps I can buy a disposable scroll or video recorder and leave them a message, if they didn't respond to that then I'd take more direct measures. Wait. What am I thinking I don't need to infiltrate the school, I can just send something via a mail drop-box, damn I can be real dumb sometimes. I'm just not thinking clearly, I guess I could use some sleep, it's another 8 hours before we touch down in Atlas.' I let out a frustrated sigh and closed my eyes, hoping sleep would take me soon,

After a very uncomfortable sleep session I groggily awoke to the airship starting to descend. 'Good were finally getting ready to land, that's the worse damn sleep I have since the harbor operation, can thank Ruby later for that ass kicking. There's no way I'd allow this mission of mine to be a failure like that one. I've been training too damn hard to allow myself to fail like that again. At least this time I wouldn't have to restrain myself, I really didn't want to hurt Ruby or her teammates, they just got involved in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now for Robbie and Yoshimitsu, I was going to hurt them, really, really bad.

* * *

After another 15 minutes we finally touched down. People started slowly filing out of the airship as I made my way out as well. 'Atlas. It's been too long. If it was up to me I would preferred to live my whole life here. Everything here is integrated with technology, everyone around moves with a sense of purpose. Don't get me wrong Vale is nice too but in it's own way. Just the moment I got off the airship I had to familiar feeling of home over wash me. Too bad I'm here on business, hell maybe one day our movement will reach to this kingdom as well, but that's still a while off. I need to focus in the now before I can think about the distant future.' I walked around a couple of blocks until I found a clothing store. After a couple minutes of searching I walked out of the store with a thick black winter coat that extended all but a couple of inches of the ground. Now at a comfortable temperature I began the walk towards the town of Daggerfall. 'It shouldn't take more than a couple of hours.' I think to myself. 'This walk gives me time to rework my plans to lure out my old team. I think I have it, when I disappeared from that outpost there was White Fang members present. I can plan a "hostage scenario" posing as a White Fang member, which ironically I am, and use it to bring them out. They school system still probably has me listed as missing in action. There's always the risk of them alert local military force or the school itself. I'll take my chances with them though, I handled myself pretty well during the last time I faced Atlesian forces on the train.

'Hopefully it will just be the two of them, I have enough confidence in my abilities that I can take the two of them on, but if they in fact have two new teammates I would be at a big disadvantage seeing that both of them would be wildcards. Eh if that happens I'll just have to adjust. With Robbie I'd just have to use his strength against him, let him throw as hard as he can and just outmaneuver him, his semblance always can in handy against the grimm but against agile opponents it didn't work often, he could throw a punch to end all punches but every time he did it he'd have to pull a portion of his aura and it would flicker around him right before he threw it. There was a reason he didn't have a melee weapon. Yoshimitsu on the other hand was a bit tricky, as smug as he could be he was a skilled swordsman, he was very unrelenting is his attacks with his katanas. That and he liked to use his semblance of air stepping to hit you at angles you'd never think to guard against. He'd literally dive bomb from above and throw in as many slashes as he could, but that was also his weakness, he put so much effort and faith his offensive barrage that he would rarely defend or block after his attack.

* * *

After about two and a half hours of walking I arrived, I immediately made my way towards the center of the town so I could find a place I could temporarily call home.

"That will be 1500 lien Mr. Coal." The receptionist behind the counter tells me. I pulled out the corresponding number of lien cards and paid the worker. I walked down the room I was given and unlocked the door and walked in. 'Eh... It's not much but it will do, it's the furthest hotel from any stores around so it's a good cover.' I threw a small duffel bag of my clothing on the bed and I followed the bag, letting out a large exhale as I hit the bed. 'Now it's time to jus play the waiting game, I already sent the scroll drive containing the video to "Team SLYR," if that is indeed still their team name.' I pulled out of the map of the area where I was planning the encounter. It was a heavily wooded area and with the town expecting heavy snowfall in the coming days it would be perfect place for a fight. 'Low visibility? Check. Area secluded from main populace? Check. Grimm occupation of area? Check.

Now for the plan. That was a simple one, I would engage my former teammates in combat and serve them a lesson, but that wasn't the point of the plan. The point was to create enough ruckus in order to draw Grimm to our location. I wouldn't be the one deciding who lives or not, I'll simply do what what they did to Fuchsia and me. Leave them behind. Who knows maybe they'll have backup and they will save them while I make my getaway. I won't interfere at the point, the message will have been sent, and I'll get the revenge I deserve, no we deserve. It won't bring her back but it will sure as hell make it easier to sleep at night knowing they got was has been coming for oh too long. 'Maybe then I can move on, and start living for me, I know I've been living for her cause too, truly the main reason I've stayed with the White Fang. No. I'll see through that the faunus get their equal rights, whatever the means, then I can move on, then I can stop. But for now it's time I get some needed rest, judgement day is coming soon and I'll be damned if I let myself screw it up.

* * *

 **ATLAS HUNTER ACADEMY**

I looked over my scroll as reflected on the notes I took during Instructor Green-Smith's lecture. In addition to teaching combat classes to first years he also taught a leadership course for second years that helps develop team leaders in all kinds of scenarios. From tips on studying for upcoming tests on how to properly give aide during evacuations, his leadership course had it all. 'If only I gave these classes more merit when I started them, maybe then I wouldn't of made one the biggest mistakes of my life. The mistake that costed half my team's life.'

* * *

 **GEMINI WOODS... Five months ago**

I ran and I ran until I couldn't run anymore, and then I kept running. Everything was a blur to me as we made our way back to the village we were supposed to re-establish comes to, I pulled out my scroll as I kept up my pace, as quickly as I could I tried calling Fuchsia again. No answer. I scrolled down my contact list and tried to call Dezmond. Again no answer. "Come on Moss we should just wait for the reinforcements there's no need to throw ourselves in to harms way because of those two, we're just going to end up getting hurt as well." Yoshimitsu called out as he was running behind me. My aura pulsed as I balled up my fist and threw it back in his direction. I missed him by a foot and connected with a young willow tree. The top half of the tree bursted into splinters showering us both. "What the hell man what are you -" I cut him off as grabbed him by the collar and lifted him of the ground.

"Listen here Oum damn it! I don't care if you don't like our teammates. It's been over a year so I thought you've moved on from this. Yeah you and Dezmond but heads, get over it. I know you have a problem with the faunus and you distrust Fuchsia over it, suck that shit up and move on. Their our damn teammates for the next two and a half years and if you want you never have to see us again after that. If you have a problem with that take it up with headmaster Ironwood and he can move you to another team. Until then you will do everything in your damn power to shut the hell up and follow my orders as your team leader understood!?"

"Y-yeah g-got it." Yoshimitsu stuttered out. 'It's bad enough that I left them in the first place but damn it I'll make it up to them, after I chew their asses for leaving in the first place.' I continued running through the forest as we made our way back. 'Damn I thought this place was a lot closer. I guess an hour of running as fast as you can will do that to you though. I stopped for a brief second leaning against a tree to catch my breath, after about five seconds I took of running again, cardio was never my strong point but I'm not going to let that stop me now.' As I was running I could see in the several airships pulling away. 'Airships? Did the village manage to get help themselves? Was it more White Fang? Regardless of who or what it was I took over with renewed vigor. At least that means were close.'

We finally neared what looked like that outpost main gates as we came to a stop as we saw the damage. Some of the small camps and huts outside of the village's protection were in ruin. Absolutely nothing that could be salvaged, whatever grimm that were hear just must of plowed right through them. We walked up to the fences gates and we saw two White Fang members armed with rifles aim at us.

"Don't come any closer!" The member on the right yelled at us.

"Hey we're here to help we don't want any problems!" I say as I dropped my LMG 'Big Joe' to the ground and place my hands in the air. I motioned for Yoshimitsu to do the same as sheathed both of his swords and threw them in front of him. "We were sent here on a bounty mission with two of our teammates and we just want to get them so we can leave."

The two members looked to each other and shared a couple words before opening the gate. "Open the gate Reggie!" The one on the right called. "Once you get inside Reggie will lead you to your teammate."

"Teammate?" I asked. 'Did Dezmond not get here in time? Or did he get caught up with Grimm elsewhere and is still out there fighting? All kinds of thoughts flooded my mind as the gate slowly opened and we stepped inside, retrieving our weapons as we did so.

"Just follow Reggie." The same member said. As we stepped in the gates a White Fang member pulled a lever closing the gates. He looked up at us motioned us over. He had antlers that protruded through his hooded uniform.

"I'm Reggie follow me and I'll lead you to your teammate." The member know as Reggie spoke to us as he led us towards a series of tents and what looked like makeshift infirmaries. I could hear and see what looked like villagers and White Fang members alike moaning and grunting in pain as mixed groups of the faunus villagers and White Fang tried to treat their wounds.

"We had two teammates that should of been here though." I spoke as I got more and more worried. He didn't say a word until he held open a tent opening for us to walk into. We followed his lead and stepped inside.

"Here." He said as he stepped to a table with what was clearly a body beneath a cover. My weapon shaked in my grip as I walked up to the table. 'No...no..no.. please don't tell me.' I pleaded as I removed the cover near the head only for my worst fears to be realized. There lied my teammate, and good friend for the past year.

"Fuchsia" I called out as my weapon fell out of my grasp and I fell to one knee. Tears clouded my vision as the worst has happened. "Damn it.. Damn it. DAMN IT! I failed you... I failed you as team leader, as a mentor, as a friend." I said to her not caring that she would never reply. 'Oum damn it Dezmond will never forgive me. Wait Dezmond? I pulled myself up from my grief and stood once again. "Where's Dezmond?" I asked Reggie already expected him to have the same fate.

"I last saw him with our leader half an hour ago, after that he disappeared. No one has seen him since. I'll give some space." Reggie told me as he left the tent.

"I really screwed up didn't I Yoshimitsu?" I asked him still shaking.

"It wasn't your fault Robbie, you told them what the risks were if they left. You did all you could as our leader. We could of be right besides her now if we had followed. I know you think this your fault as our leader but its not, you made the call and the disobeyed orders. It's not your fault." Yoshimitsu said as he turned away and stepped out of the tent. 'We were a team thought damn it, through thick and thin we should of had each others back's. I'd rather be besides her right now, atleast that way I would of went down as someone who'd sacrifice themselves in order to save those who couldn't fight. I guess I'm nothing more than a coward...'

"I'm sorry Fuchsia, Dezmond, I failed you. Even if it takes the rest of my life I'll do whatever it takes to show you how truly sorry I am. Your lives will not be in vein." I say to them as I left the tent. I then pulled out my scroll and pulled up Instructor Green-Smith's number and dialed.

"This is Instructor Green-Smith."

"Sir, This is trainee Moss. I've made physical contact with the village. T-trainee Li is KIA and trainee Slate is MIA."

"I'm-I'm sorry for your loss Robert. My soldiers accompanied by myself will make contact with the village, ETA ten mikes. We'll talk more then, Green-Smith out."

"Roger sir."

* * *

"Hey Robbie are you okay?" A timid voice asks me from behind as she shakes me trying to stir me from my thoughts.

"Yeah I'm fine, thanks Samantha." Samantha one of my two new teammates who was added about a month after the incident at Gemini Woods, I still remember the argument I had with the headmaster telling me I was getting replacement teammates.

* * *

"Sir you wanted to see me?" I said to General and Headmaster Ironwood, giving a salute as I did so.

"At ease. Trainee Moss I wanted to inform you of an opportunity."

"An opportunity sir?" I ask not knowing in the slightest of what he could offer me.

"Yes an opportunity, I've been well informed of what took place on Team SLYR's bounty mission to the Gemini Woods 28 days ago. I know what it's like to suffer losses on the battlefield. I've lost many soldiers, friends to the evil of this world, and in every instance I used their bravery, their sacrifice to motivate to keep moving forward. I'd make sure not a single one of their lives were for naught. I'm giving you an opportunity Robert Moss to decide your future. You choices in front of you trainee. You can drop-out of this Academy and choose a different profession and move on with your life. You can become Atlesian Military Specialist, we'll train on how to become a solo agent and adapt your life to such. You're training would start immediately if you choose this path. Finally you have a third option." General Ironwood slid two manila folders across the desk to me. I looked over the cover of each folders and they had two names on it.

 **Samantha Robbins:**

 **Second year student**

 **Admin Info:**

 **SEX: Female**

 **RACE: Human**

 **AGE: 18 years old**

 **HEIGHT: 5'4"**

 **HAIR COLOR: Red**

 **EYE COLOR: Brown**

 **Profile:**

 **Former member of Team Assault(ASLT)**

 **Partner: Ty Landing**

 **Trainee uses single round break action grenade launcher, shifts into what she refers as a baseball bat. Team ASLT last saw action 53 days ago when sent on bounty mission to the Atlas mountain region to exterminate Grimm. According to report Team ASLT split into partner pairs to cover more ground, unexpected severe blizzard warning caused to teams to lose contact with one another. Team leader Auburn Chung and team leader Leon Woodson have been listed MIA. Atlesian Response Forces searched for missing team members for two weeks with no success. Members Chung and Woodson will remain listed as MIA until further evidence warrants change.**

 **Ty Landing:**

 **Second year student**

 **Admin Info:**

 **SEX: Male**

 **AGE: 18 years old**

 **RACE: Human**

 **HEIGHT: 6'2"**

 **HAIR COLOR: Black**

 **EYE COLOR: Blue**

 **Profile:**

 **Former member of Team Assault(ASLT)**

 **Partner: Samantha Robbins**

 **Trainee uses high calibered bolt-action sniper rifle, shifts into spear-type ASLT last saw action 53 days ago when sent on bounty mission to the Atlas mountain region to exterminate Grimm. According to report Team ASLT split into partner pairs to cover more ground, unexpected severe blizzard warning caused to teams to lose contact with one another. Team leader Auburn Chung and team leader Leon Woodson have been listed MIA. Atlesian Response Forces searched for missing team members for two weeks with no success. Members Chung and Woodson will remain listed as MIA until further evidence warrants change. Trainee Landing has shown high levels of depression, trainee is listed on monitor list due to this.**

"Wait General are you asking me to lead a team again?"

"In the end the choice is yours trainee Moss. I'm offering you this choice because these two students have made their own decisions to continue their education in this Academy. They decided that it even though they lost two of their brothers in arms, they still want to continue their career and become a hunter. I know you have it in yourself to learn from your mistakes, you can become so much more if you take this opportunity. I know it seems like a second chance, right now you're probably asking yourself 'why do I deserve one.' You must take those doubts and erase them from head. Doubting one's abilities has never been beneficial to either party." General Ironwood said as he stood up and looked out the window.

'I don't know what to do, I don't know if I have what it takes to lead a team again. But if they decided to move on from their mistakes who am I not to do the same. Damn it I owe it to them to try one more time. That's what they would of wanted right? For me to move and honor them? No he said not to doubt yourself. It's time for action.'

"I-I'll do it sir. I'll lead them."

"I'm sure you will Moss. Then it's settled, tonight I'll introduce you and Yoshimitsu to your new teammates."

"Wait? Yoshimitsu knew?"

"Yes your teammate informed me that you wouldn't turn down such an offer. You've been given a daunting task young man, make sure that you live up to it." General Ironwood said as he offered his hand for a handshake. I took it in turn and gave him a solid shake.

"Thank you General."

"The pleasure is mine Robert Moss leader of Team Martyr(MYTR)"

* * *

"Come on Rob let's go get dinner." Ty tells me as he leads our group towards the dinning hall.

"Yeah let's go." I say as was about to pocket my scroll. Just then a new notification popped up. 'I wonder who this could be?'

 _'Contact' Atlas Hunter Academy Mailing System: You have one package in the mail room awaiting your signature.'_


	17. Chapter 17: Divide

I walked back to my team's dorm room as looked over the mail I received. It was a simple white envelope containing a small item inside, I was going to see what it was once I got back but something unnerved me about the envelope. It had no return address, that meant either one of two things. Either one someone came here and hand delivered to the mail room or two, someone mailed via a drop-box which are located almost on every corner of Atlas. Regardless of the reasoning I'd wait to open in the dorms. As I continued walking I reached Team MYTR's door. I held my scroll in front of the door until the lock recognized my credentials and popped open. I walked in to see my teammates up to their usual antics. To my left on the bottom was Yoshimitsu, hands behind his head asleep as that was his favorite past-time. To my right was Ty studying and taking notes from a couple of open books laid out open the desk, he was in a trance as he didn't even notice my walk in. And finally was Samantha on the top bunk to my left, flat on her stomach as her headphones were blaring music as she was playing some game on her scroll clearly absorbed as her eyes were furrowed in concentration with her tongue sticking out. 'Damn it's good to be part of a team again.' I thought to myself as I pulled out my pocketed envelope and walked towards my bed. Samantha noticed me and gave me a small wave as she removed her headphones.

"Whatcha got there Robbie?" She asked me as put her scroll away, her full attention one me now.

"Just a letter from the mail room." I say as looked over it a second time.

"Oooh. Who's it from? Family?" She asked as she hopped of her bunk and leaned against.

"I don't know. It's has no return address." I say giving a shrug.

"It's probably a secret admirer." I hear Ty as I look around seeing him still jotting down notes as he then lets out a small chuckle. I turn to see Samantha with a small frown but she notices my gaze and looks to her scroll her cheeks sporting a small hue of pink. 'Something wrong?' I thought but soon dismissed as I opened the envelope. There was nothing in it but a small folded letter and a thumb drive. I poured the contents into my hand and started to unfold the letter. There was only two words on the letter.

' **WATCH ME** '

"That's weird." I accidentally say out loud as walked to my laptop and and shoved the drive into a free port.

"What did it say?" Samantha asked walking to my side as she wanted to see what was going on.

"It just said watch me." I said to her, I felt Ty's presence behind me as he now was too interested with what was going on. I pulled up my media player and selected the drive as the video, the video started to load as Yoshimitsu began to stir and sat up.

"What's going on? Show and tell?" He asked as he looked at the three of us centered around my laptop.

"I don't know Yosh but you're welcome to watch." He sighed and got out of bed and stood next to me as the file continued to load. "Whelp I'm up now so I might as well." Yoshimitsu watched with arms crossed. "What is this anyways?" He asked.

"Some file on a drive he got in the mail, it was unmarked so are guess is as good as yours." Ty said scratching his small goatee. The wheel on the file stopped spinning as the video was ready play. 'Well here goes nothing.' I clicked play.

The video began playing as I took in the scenery, it was deeply forested area covered with snow. The snow continued to fall as a figure began to come into focus. The dark figure through the trees in the background and came to a stop as they were centered on the figure. The the figure donned a White Fang mask with an unnervingly large small etched into it that reached ear to ear, it had two red eyes leaked red down the mask and black hood surrounding his head. The figure wore a deep red padded vest with a dark ruggedized long sleeve outfit with matching pants. I looked to teammates as they looked back at me confused as to what we were watching. The figure then reached to his back a grabbed a weapon and threw it forward to the ground. My eyes widened as I recognized the weapon, a sniper rifle. "Snapshot!" I said out loud as Yoshimitsu's eyes widened it recognition as well.

"Team SLYR, if that's what you call yourself now." The figure said with a deep voice as he paced back and forth through the snow eyes...mask focused the camera. "Huntsman and huntresses. Titles you do not deserve. They say you protect the innocent, the weak, those who cannot defend themselves. Lies! Leaving your fellow huntress to die, a huntress that happened to be faunus no less. Then you send one to protect her, but it was too late the damage was already done. You hunters...humans are all the same, so ready to throw our race into the fire to save yourself, and for what because you think you're superior, that your entitled to rule Remnant. Well that will all change soon. Starting with your teammate. At first he remained resilient, but time and effort can break anyone. If you hunters are what your all cracked up to me you will meet me at the coordinates attached to this file, you will meet me at the assigned date and time." The figure said as he walked towards the camera. "Oh and if you try to alert your Academy or any kind of outside forces I'll kill him and make sure to send you the video of that as well. I look forward to our meeting." He then walked up to the camera and video cut out, the file eneding shortly after.

"The f*** was that Rob!?" Yoshimitsu yelled out still unsure of what he saw.

"Dez is alive?" I say as I fell to the floor shaken by the revelation. 'How.. How long has he been suffering. I don't understand!? The White Fang locals we met that day cooperated with us, was it a ploy back then? Them trying to gain their trust just to turn it around on us.'

"Robbie!? Was..was he talking about your old teammate?" Samantha said as she grabbed my shoulder, I felt Ty grab my other as the pulled me up and set me down on my bunk. Both my hands went to my head as I tried to process this information.

"I- I had no idea, h-he's been alive this whole time!" I said as I took a large breath and steeled me nerves as I stood back up. "If what that man said is true then we can still save him." I said to my team as walked back to the laptop pulling up the attached file. I looked over the coordinates, my team doing the same.

"That's in Daggerfall, well the Daggerfall Woods to be exact." Said Ty as he then pulled out his scroll pulling up a map. "Here!" He said pointing.

"That's not very far away." Said Yoshimitsu as he peered over the map.

I then looked over the timeline the man set. "Six tomorrow morning is when he wants to meet." I say as I started to grab a bag filling them with supplies.

"So what are we going to do?" Samantha said as she looked to me and Yoshimitsu.

"You and Ty are going to do nothing. This isn't your fight."

"Like hell it isn't! We're your teammates! And I'll be damned if I just stay back here safe and sound while you and Yoshimitsu throw yourself into danger." Samantha challenged as she stopped me from packing.

"This isn't up for discussion!" I said. "I don't want you in harm's way because of my actions. I already learned that lesson once and I will not repeat it." I said to her meeting her gaze.

"You're right. This isn't up for discussion." Said Ty standing at Samantha's side. "You're not the only one who's lost a teammate, a friend. And Samantha and I aren't going to let that happen again. We're going with you whether you like it or not."

"So what's the plan then Rob?" Yoshimitsu said now standing behind my other teammates.

'What's the best way to play this? This can't just be a singular act by the White Fang, others must know about this besides that man. It's clearly some sort of ambush, we can't just go in without a plan, we'd be playing right into their hands. Daggerfall Woods huh? Gotta start somewhere.' "Alright let's start with the location. We know it's located somewhere in the Daggerfall woods so let's start there. Ty pull up details on your scroll of the terrain we're going into. Weather, elevation, anything you can find will work. Onto the next issue. Samantha, I need you look up any info you can on this White Fang guy, he's clearly some high up so he's got to have some sort of paper trail on him, anything will do. And lastly Yosh, I need you to help me go secure our weapons and any extra ammo we can, we don't exactly know what we're getting into but spare ammo is never a bad thing."

"Of course you need me to do the heavy lifting." Said Yoshimitsu with a rare laugh. "Come on let's go get our gear Rob."

* * *

Yoshimitsu and I walked back into the room, our team's weapons in tow, along with a bag full of dust rounds we managed to acquire. "Got the goods." Yosh said as he dropped the gear on the only table in the room.

"So what do you two got for me?" I asked Samantha and Ty. Ty started first, eyes still glued to his scroll.

"Well I did a lot of digging through local news articles and I wasn't able to find too much." Samantha said to the group.

"Figures." Yosh said arms crossed.

"But being the bit of the nerd I am I kept digging and I was able to get access to some classified mission material, and before you ask don't worry I covered my footsteps so we wont be in any trouble. So this guy doesn't have much of a background but in the recent couple months he has been very active. The first area he showed up was in a dust robbery in Vale, at first police thought it was only White Fang activity, but after several robberies he was spotted assisting a criminal known as Roman Torchwick. Remember that attempted robbery of that Schnee Dust Company that was all over the news a couple months ago? He and that Torchwick guy were apparently major players. Then after that happened he went dark for a while, until..." Samantha let out a gasp as she continued looking at her source.

"Until what?" I asked almost not wanting to know the answer.

"He resurfaced in a heist in Forever Fall. He was spotted attacking a SDC freight train with fellow White Fang members. Atlesian forces were sent to deal with the attackers. If what I'm reading is correct then this guy is bad news, several dozen Atlesian soldiers were reported KIA or MIA. Not just that but apparently they had highly classified cargo on that train, I'm not sure what it is though, everything mentioning that cargo is blacked out."

"This doesn't make any sense, all of these incidents occurred in the kingdom of Vale, why suddenly show up in Atlas and announce yourself now? What is there play?" I ask out loud as I try to figure out that information myself.

"It doesn't matter what there play is." Starts Ty. "Regardless of their intentions they have your teammate, not only can we get him back but now we can put a wanted murderer behind bars."

"Kill two birds with one stone eh? I'm all for that." Commented Yoshimitsu.

"So what did you manage to find me Ty?" I ask.

"Okay well there's good news and bad news." Ty started.

"Good news." The rest of the team, me included said in unison.

"Well good news is it's not very far away. We could take a shuttle into the neighboring town of High Rock and walk the rest of the way to the coordinates, it would take no longer than 30 minutes walking." Ty explained looking over his scroll.

"And the bad news?" I asked.

"Well the area is pretty isolated, this is clearly some sort of ambush as it would take time to get help if the situation got really bad. Plus the terrain near the desired coordinates are heavily wooded, which means a lot of concealment. But that's not the worst part, we're expecting at least a couple inches of snow tonight, so concealment on top of concealment."

"Well that's not entirely bad." I start explaining to my team. "Concealment is a two-way street. Sure we won't know what we're up against until it's already happening, but neither will they. I got the plan." I finish as I zoom in on Ty's map. "Here's how it's going to go down, the man we saw in the video clearly is only following that is two of us. From his statements in the video we know that he only know of Yoshimitsu's and my presence, so from all the information Samantha gathered we can piece that he was someone present at the Gemini Woods. He and some other White Fang members must have moved South to the Kingdom of Vale and started to create havoc there. Judging by all the commotion the White Fang has created there I'm guessing that they are trying to lay low, and what's the best way to lay low in a Kingdom?"

"By targeting another Kingdom." Samantha nearly shouted out loud.

"Exactly, my best guess is that this is a personal matter that this Fang leader wants to take care of before causing havoc in Atlas. Well that's his first and last mistake. We can stop this guy before he even has the chance to cause panic, and if everything goes well and we take this guy down it might just break morale within their ranks and slow them down if not stop them all together. Alright here we go, Yosh and I are going to move on the meeting location and see what this guy's angle is. Meanwhile I want you Ty to trail us and use your semblance to get up high and give us over-watch, seeing as bad as the weather is going to be you should have no problem setting up shop in one of the larger tree's."

"Got it, it will take me a little time but I'll do my best." Ty affirmed. 'His semblance was always handy, being able to ran on any surface for very short bursts was very handy, especially for a sniper, it basically enabled him to set up a sniper nest in any location.

"Samantha your going to stay with us until we're about a mile out, after that you'll break off and go around to flank. We're going to being heading northbound so I want you to head east and work your way until you can get in a flanking position. From that point you can set up a counter ambush, I'll leave it to you when you want to spring the trap. Make sure you don't make your presence known too early as I want us to keep the element of surprise."

"No problem Robbie, you count on me." Samantha said as she grabbed her weapon and began to overlook the shifting mechanics. 'Might as well do the same.' I thought as I took my LMG and began to give some small up-keeping.

"Alright Team, we got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, not to mention we need to be up by 0300 latest. So I recommend we all get some shut-eye. I'll make sure to get everyone up in time so don't worry about setting an alarm." 'I don't think I could sleep even if I tried to.'

* * *

 **Daggerfall Woods**

I paced back and forth, eagerly awaiting my company that would be arriving within the hour. The snow crackled and crunch underneath my boots as I looked at my watch again.

'05:15'

I shifted Mortem into it's estoc and began to twirl the weapon in my hand to help kill the boredom as I continued waiting. 'Eh one more weapon's check wouldn't hurt.' I thought as I shifted Mortem back into my pistol, I pulled the hammer and a round flew another taking it's place as I released the slide. I dropped the magazine and slid the round back in and holstered it back to my right hip. I reached to my left hip and withdrew Ripper, I shifted my pistol into the falchion and gave it a few slashes. 'It's been a little while Ripper.' I quickened the rate of my slashes until I was comfortable with the weight again. I didn't plan on using Ripper but it doesn't hurt to have a plan B, and I was for damn sure not fighting with two swords, I have very little training on that type of fighting style and Rob and Yoshimitsu were not pushovers. I had SnapShot stashed away but close by if shit really hit the fan. Snapshot was always more effective against the Grimm or against someone who wasn't expecting to be attacked, in a duel it was just to cumbersome to keep switching back forth between it and my sidearm.

I continued pacing back and forth as the snowstorm picked up it's intensity. I looked out to a treeline several feet away, it became harder and harder to see out in the distance. 'Good I have complete concealment now just in case they tried anything funny. Even if they didn't fall for my bluff of them alerting the authorities it would be rather easy making an escape. Knowing as hard headed as Rob and Yoshi could be they would want to keep this to themselves regardless if I threatened them or not. As I continued going over my attack plan in my head my pocket began to vibrate. 'Who the hell could that be?' I thought as I pulled out my scroll.

 **Ruby:** ' _Hey is everything okay? I haven't heard from you in a while. Me and my team should hang out with you again?_

 _'Anyways I got classes in a little bit, I thought I'd just ask since we haven't talked in a while.'_

'Ruby? Damn in all the work I've been doing setting this up I forgot I told them we should get together again. It's been a little over a week I've been here in Atlas so I guess that was enough time to leave her worried, especially after what I told her and her team when we last hung out. Damn first friend in a while and I'm already blowing it.' I pocketed my scroll as that was an issue I'd settle later, all my attention needed to be focused on the here and now. 'Any minute now.'

* * *

After another ten minutes of pacing I began to make out figures approaching through the trees. The falling snow obscuring my vision a bit. The seemed to notice my presence as well as they looked to each other and spread out a bit anticipating an attack. After another couple seconds they were close enough to make out all their features. Rob stood in his usual attire with his LMG at the low ready doing his best to unnerve me by glaring daggers. Yoshimitsu on the other hand was a bit bundled up as the temperature seemed to bother. He wore a thin black jacket that clung to him and thicker set of tan pants. His katana's remained sheathed as he kept a wide stance, clearly ready for a fight.

"Where is he!?" Rob yelled out

I let out a small laugh which caused Rob and Yoshimitsu to share a glace before returning their focus on me. "I SAID WHERE IS HE!?" Rob yelled even louder this time as he focused his LMG on me.

"You huntsman are so damn gullible, you'll believe anything someone will tell you as long as it's what you want to hear. The truth is your friend is not here, instead it is only me." I'd let them keep there hope, thinking there fighting for the friend, the truth is they'd call their friend died that die, and now it's time for them to pay. But then I felt it, a feeling I've only felt several times before, the feeling a sniper knew to well. The sensation of cross-hairs trained on you. "So your not alone." I said as dove to my left using my momentum to turn it into a roll. Not a moment later a sizable chunk of a tree to my right was blown to the ground. 'Hmmm he must be far off, that with be a problem as now I have to stay mobile. As long as I stay engaged in combat they wont be able to shoot due to collateral damage. Bring it!'

I continued to be evasive and made a beeline for the treeline. Chunks of wood were torn to shreds behind as the three hunters fired on my location. Robbie let lose with his LMG not caring if hit landing a shot or not. Yoshi alternated shots from the pistols in the hilt of his katanas, and the marksman dropped tree and tree around my position. They were clearly just firing out of desperation. 'Alright time to start picking them off.' I had a contingency plan if they decided to bring help. I removed a detonator from one of vest pockets. I flipped off the cover and hit the trigger. I series of smoke grenades detonated in a circle around the clearing leaving the center clear. 'Go time.' I rolled out from behind a tree and began to open fire with Mortem forcing Yoshimitsu to take cover behind an old rotting log. I continued mashing the trigger as I then focused onto Robbie, he turned his weapon horizontal to shield the small calibered rounds of my pistol, but it bought me all the time I needed. Upon him now I jumped and delivered an axe kick disarming him. I shifted into my estoc and rammed the handle into his gut causing him to stumble backwards. I followed up with three quick slashes into his chest following with a kick to his gut. His armor and aura tanked my strikes but he still stumbled backwards, 'his large aura pool would take time to defeat, but progress is progress.' Robbie finally regained his footing and with loud roar he triggered his semblance and threw a right hay-maker at me. I dipped and dove forward under his strike as his momentum carried him forward several feet leading him to fall flat on his stomach.

As Robbie regained his composure Yoshimitsu came diving from above, both his bladed aimed at me. I dipped right and took Mortem in both of my hands swinging upwards to meet his blades. My defense worked and I redirected his strike causing him to miss wide right, he landed in an acrobatic roll and jumped up and pushed off the air continuing his assault on me. He came with a series of alternating slashes starting with right that came downward and the attack by spinning his body, creating a vortex of katana blades. He came at me unrelenting, but I met each of his swings simply blocking each blow. He continued his assault pushing me back with each swing. 'Good he thinks he has the upper hand but all he's going to do is wear himself out.' I thought as I continued to block his swings. 'Alright time to get under his skin.' I switched my estoc into a reverse grip as I got into a low stance. He continued swinging but now I simply just leaned and spun out of the way of each of his blades. His frustration seemed to be getting to him as his swings became frantic and sloppy, he overextended with a wide arcing right and I took advantage by sending my handle into his ribs. He fell to one knee and I delivered a heel kick to his temple sending him reeling. He tumbled into the snow clearly dazed as I shifted my attention back to Robbie. He came charging with his large knife in his left hand. I took a defensive stance with my blade, he then leaped into the with his fist cocked back and rocketed towards the ground his aura flicker as he did so. My eyes widened in realization as I jumped.

"Shit."

The ground cratered below me as I was thrown from the epicenter. I released my weapon as I didn't want to harm myself recovering from his blow. I continued flying through the air as I finally stopped, courtesy of a tree. I pushed myself up to see Robbie rushing me from the crater he left. He was clearly pissed of as he jumped again with his fist hanging back once more. 'Fool me once Rob.' He descended from his attack once more but this time I was ready. I jumped and pushed off the tree behind diving out of his path as he arced right past me. He missed me completely and left another crater in the ground. 'Got some time now' I thought as I retrieved Mortem from the ground, time to handle Yoshimitsu for good. As I ran towards Yoshimitsu I pulled out a second detonator and triggered it as well creating a second wall of smoke to buy me more time from the unwanted intruder. 'Damn it only left, time to speed this up.' Yoshimitsu was still recovering as he was leaning one of his blades to help push himself up.

"Not so cocky now are you coward!" I yelled as I charged him. He pushed himself at last second and crossed his swords to defend. I came with a downward strike swinging with all might, unfortunately his defense just barely held. His aura was nearly spent though and I went low and followed with a spinning right kick, he legs flew out from under him and I jabbed my blade forward. His aura broke as my blade pierced his chest. I removed the blade as I he fell to the ground wheezing clutching his chest. 'Probably pierced his lung.' I stepped over him my blade pointed downward as I readied for the end. I pulled my blade back as I was about to stab downward.

Until I heard footsteps behind me. I looked up to see a bat flying at my face. The bat connected as I felt my mask crack and begin to spiderweb. I fell backwards my vision hazy as I tried to recover from the strike. I heard what sounded like footsteps only to feel two feet connect with my chest and send me rolling through the snow. 'What the hell was that?' I thought as I was still shaken from the literal blow to the head. I looked up to see a red headed girl decked out in white pants and thick white and brown mixed hoodie with a backwards cap on her head aiming what looked like a grenade launcher at me. 'Ah crap.'

She fired a round at me blowing me off my feet once more. 'Damn my aura is pretty much shot at this point as I started to pick myself back up. But then I noticed something I felt a trickle drip down from the top of my head, past my eye, and down my chin. But that's not what bothered me, I felt the snow against my face. I reached up to my face and my suspicions were confirmed as I got up and saw my mask in pieces laid before me. The thick haze from my grenades and the snow created a small fog and I could make out three figures out of the standing together. 'Whelp it's time they seen the truth.' The haze finally cleared as I was revealed to them. Robbie's eyes went as wide as dinner plates when he saw my face.

"D-D-Dezmond?" He called out in disbelief. His two other companions turning to him in confusion.

I replied by holstering Mortem and drawing Ripper shifting into its blade.

"Why are doing this? What's going on?" Robbie called out still in shock.

"Like I told you before. Your friend is not here. Only me."

"What the hell did the White Fang do to you. Did they brain-wash you, blackmail!?" Robbie again shouted.

"They did nothing but show me the truth. They gave me purpose when you and that asshole back there left me to rot. You left us to die and I plan on returning the favor." I said as I pointed Ripper at him.

"Damn it Dez snap out of it! You're a hunter, not some blood-hungry killer."

"You've lost the right to call me Dez, Robert. That was my old life, the one that died when she passed. This is the new me, the one you created. NOW. You can either fight me or lay down and die."

"If I must." Rob said as he took a fighting stance. "Sam, Ty take care of Yoshimitsu and get him out of here. This isn't you're battle."

"But!?-" Samantha pleaded.

"End of story Samantha! Now GO!" Rob yelled and Samantha nodded a tears flowing. She ran off to Yoshimitsu and with Ty's helped the started carrying him off.

"Once I'm done with you he's next." I taunted as we began circling each other.

Rob was the first to initiate as he came forward jabbing his knife a few times as I backed out of his reach. He then came with a with his right throwing straight as I dipped under it slashing Ripper across his chest. He took the blow and slashed forward with his knife, I weaved to the left and grabbed his left elbow pushing it past me. He staggered forward as I then pulled down and sent a kick his left shoulder blade. I backed up as he tried to throw a spinning elbow at me and I countered with two more slices to his chest armor one of them penetrating and leaving a small gash. We were on even footing now as both of aura's were pretty much spent. He gritted his teeth as he began to throw a series of punches at me, 'after the training I've been through with Neo this seems to easy.' I thought to myself as I continued to evade his swings. He threw and overhead right, knife still in hand, and I ducked low ran my blade into his gut. He sank into me the will to fight now gone. He leaned into me and mumbled into my ear.

"I'm sorry." He said as I removed the blade and pushed him into the snow.

"sorry? SORRY!? That's all you have to say after you abandoned us!? Well it's too damn late, sorry is not going to bring her back!" I yelled as held one hand to his stomach attempting to stop flow of blood.

 **"AND NEITHER IS THIS!"** I heard his female companion yell as I began to hear a whirring sound.

I dove to the ground as the grenade flew over me and exploded into a ways off. She came running at me with her bat raised behind her.

"Samantha get out of here!" Groaned Rob from his downed position. She ignored as she came at me swinging wildly with her bat. I dodged all her blows as she was swinging out of pure emotion therefore being reckless. She then kicked me near the shin and I stumble forward and she then swung for the fences. I dropped to my back as she hit nothing but air and lost her footing from the uncontrolled swing. I swept her feet out from under her and shot up. She trained do the same but I caught her with a knee to the face and she slid back a couple of feet. I then shifted to my pistol and began to fire upon her. She tried to evade but after seven rounds her aura broke and she fell to the ground panting clutching her body.

I turned to Rob who was still on his back, but in his arms was his LMG shifted into it's 20mm canon fire mode. He began firing at me and dove out of the line of fire behind a boulder. He kept firing and the boulder began to shatter as his weapon was to powerful for it. I readied myself as took a low crouch and leaped of what remained of the boulder. I pushed of as the boulder exploded in to pebbles, as I reached the apex of my jump I triggered my semblance blinding the area around me. I fell flat on my face as my semblance did a number to my already decimated aura levels. I regained composure and looked up from the ground to see that Samantha crawled her way to Rob while he suppresses me. They laid side by side as Rob continued to pull the trigger of his weapon it responding only with empty clicks as he blew threw his ammo. I hobbled over to his position shifting my blade back into it's pistol form. I released the empty magazine I slammed in a fresh one. As I stepped up to Rob I kicked the LMG out of his hands, the weapon sliding through the snow.

I leveled my sights on his head as we meet eyes, my finger moved to the trigger.

"P-please don't kill him, shoot me instead." His companion who threw herself over him cried out. "I lost one teammate, I w-wont watch another die." She said as she continued to defend him.

Something inside me broke. Hearing those words. A familiar feeling overtook me. I pulled the trigger.

 ***BANG***

She opened her eyes to see a bullet hole in the ground next to his head. She looked back to me and to Rob again finally lowering her head. "T-thank you." She whimpered.

"I hope for your sake Moss that one day you can be a sliver the huntsman your friend is here." I said as I began to walk away. "If I ever see you or Yoshimitsu's face again I won't hesitate to blow it off. That is your only warning." I pulled out the last of my detonator's and triggered it, encasing me in smoke.

"Maybe there's still a reason to believe in this world after all."

* * *

 **AN: And there's the conclusion to my OC team arc. They will be mentioned in the future but that's the last action you'll see from them as the focus will now shift towards the canon of the series. Some may be disappointed that he didn't end up eliminating them all together but perhaps he found a silver lining in it all. All it takes is a spark in order to set of a motion of events, and he might of found his spark. In other news the Volume finally of RWBY was freaking awesome(edit heartbreaking) and I don't how I'm going to be able hold in all the hype until it's time for Volume 4. Which brings me to my fic. This fic will be ending in the realm of Volume 3 as I don't have anything defined to go beyond that. Volume 4 can go a number of ways and it my story will wrap up a lot better if it ends in 3. Anyways until next time MidKnight209 signing off.**


	18. Chapter 18: Breathe

The flight back was even less eventful as the flight here. I walked into the on-board bathroom and took the dressing off the left side of my forehead. As I looked into the mirror I see just what that blow from that girl did to me. I scar running two inches into my hairline all the way down to my left eyebrow. If I had more aura at the time I would of been unharmed but the unexpected timing of their allies caught me off-guard and I paid the price. After a dozen or so stitches the bleeding stopped for the most part and all I had to do was keep changing the bandage. 'I can't be caught off-guard like that again, if her swing was just an inch lower I might have lost my vision completely, hell I got off easy considering the circumstances, she completely blindsided me. That won't happen again, it can't happen again.'

I threw the bloodied bandage into the garbage dispenser and pulled another one out from my assault pack. I placed the bandage over my head and wrapped it into place. I looked at the time and saw that I would be only another couple minutes until we landed. I walked back my seat and pulled out my scroll. 'Well let's see what I missed while I was busy. Hmmm one new message.' It was from an unknown number so that meant only one thing. Roman. 'It would be best if I answered that once I landed, you never know who could be ease dropping.'

After a little wait the aircraft landed. I slung me assault pack over my shoulder and my way towards the warehouse. I pulled out my scroll and called Roman.

"So kid how'd it go?" Roman asked, sarcastic as ever.

"Well let's just say I won't be having to make any more trips to Atlas, what's going on? You don't message me for no reason."

"Ah.. Business as usual I see, well I have big plans in store and you're included."

"What kind of plans are we talking here?" I ask.

"I'll tell you once you arrive, that's all for now kid." Roman replied as the line then went dead.

'Hmmm Roman's not one that likes to keep to himself, whatever this is he's being especially careful. I wonder what kind of job this could be.' I thought to myself as I pocketed my scroll. After about forty minutes of walking I neared the warehouse, I walked around back and went in through the rear entrance. I walked in the set of doors and a pair of white fang guards greeted me and granted me entrance. As I walked into the building a stage of some sorts was set up with a large White Fang banner behind it. I looked around as I saw several members moving around crates the create space and open up the warehouse. I'd save my questions for later as I began to walk towards Roman's office. As I made my way threw the series of hallways I saw Neo leaning against the door to my room, as soon as she heard my footsteps she looked up and gave me a nod before she did a double-take and pointed to her head.

"It's a long story Neo, I'll be sure to fill you in once after we talk to Roman." She nodded in response and gestured to follow her. I obeyed and fell in step beside her, we reached his office and we stepped inside.

"About time you tw- whoa what happened to you kid." Roman said as he turned around now facing us.

"Just a scratch" 'Nope, scratches don't take twenty stitches to close' "Don't worry about it." I said trying to be the tough guy.

"Well if you say so kid, anyways we have a very important event taking place tomorrow night. We will be holding a White Fang recruitment meeting here, we need to bolster our numbers for the next step of the plan to take effect, once we have the numbers we are going to relocate to an outpost in the South East."

"Where at in the South East?" I asked

"I'm glad you asked, we are going to be operating beneath the ruins of Mountain Glenn. It's the perfect cover, no huntsman would ever think look at the very place one of their greatest failures took place. We already have a small presence set up shop their now, but we won't be able to do much if we don't have the numbers to support them. You see there's one problem though, as much as I'd like them to just blindly follow me I'm still a human, they won't follow the likes of me so that's why I need you and your fellow leader Bane to take part in the rally. If they see that you two are willing to put their differences aside to support our cause then they'd have no problems doing it themselves. So for once I need your help kid, what do you say?"

"Well I can't turn down an offer like that now can I?" I reply with a small bit of sarcasm. "You game Neo?" Neo replied with a simple nod, there's not much she wouldn't do for Roman. I'd have to figure out her background one day, but that was another day's problem.

"I just have one question though Roman, what's this phase three you've been talking about so long?"

"Ahh well that's the phase that comes after phase two." He says to being the smart ass he is. "But seriously kid don't worry about it for now, I'll explain it all once we reach Glenn. It will make more sense then."

"Alright I trust you." I say.

"And what more is a partnership then mutual trust between one another." He says as he shakes my hand for added emphasis. "Glad to have you on-board kid. And you as well Neo. Alright that will be all, try to keep nearby until the meeting, I want everything to run smooth for once."

"Will do." I say as head out of the office, Neo following me. As I'm about to walk into my room Neo's scroll is shoved into my face.

 _'Soooooo what happened?'_

"Ugh I'll tell you inside, I just want to relax for a bit." She nods and I open the door for her. She walks into the room and takes a seat in one of my chairs as I ungracefully as possible fall flat on my face into my bed.

"I guess this is the part where I tell you what happened huh?" I say as I push myself into a sitting position facing Neo. Unfortunately I was greeted with a kick to the shin. "Ow! the hell was that for!?" I say rubbing my shin.

 _'That's for going all rogue on me! You can't just up and leave like that! What if something happened to you_? Neo showed me the text, anger showing in her face.

"Where's this coming from? I had some personal issues I needed to take care of, why do I need to inform you!?" I say now standing up. Seriously what was up with her? Isn't she supposed to be a bad ass mercenary?'

Neo then stood up and came forward eye level- er eye to chest level now practically fuming. She then turned away and began typing into her phone. She shoved it into my face still not facing me. _'As downright evil I can be sometimes it still hurts when allies of mine don't come back from a mission. I've made myself the way I am today because of my past, you think the biggest mistake I made was the one that cost my voice. No. That was nothing compared to what has happened. Believe it or not I was hunter just like you once. I graduated Shade and all, I had a team that cared for one another, but all that did was make it hurt more was it was torn apart. And why? Because we we're sent on a suicide mission, as hunters you are supposed to do everything you can to protect the people, but what happens when those same people turn their backs to you!? That's why I chose the path that lead me here, these people need to pay for what they did, and I don't intend on stopping until they do.'_

"N-neo. I had no idea, I-I'm sorry, I didn't know."

 _'Well you do now.'_

"Hey let's focus on the mission for now, we can talk when we have more time okay?"

Neo simply nodded and started to leave the room, she reached the doorway but I stopped grabbed her wrist to stop her. She turned around, her eyes a bit still watery from her past troubles. "Hey, thanks for looking out for me. It means a lot to know at least one person cares."

She gave a small smile and nodded leaving the room before typing one last message into her scroll. _'Anytime Dezmond.'_ And with that she left the room.

'Damn so that's why she's taking so much time training me, it's not because of the mission at hand. The real reason is because she see's herself in me, she lost everything and probably had a much harder road to recovery. She's basically been trying to save me from that. Man this really puts Neo in a new light. I guess my allies aren't so bad after all. Well some of them. Roman.

I changed my bandage one more time and I crawled back into my bed, 'it's probably best if I just lay low and recover for tomorrow.'

* * *

 **AN: Well a bit of a set-up chapter, as I guess you all now what's happening next. How will everything change with one more adversary in the way? Well you all know soon enough, I won't keep you waiting long for the next one as I am writing as I do this very author note. What do you think of the way I'm depicting Neo is this pic, feel free to PM or review on your thoughts. Until next time MidKnight209**


	19. Chapter 19: Paint it Black

"I thought that class would never end." Blake said as she walked over to us. Team RWBY and myself were readying our gear as we prepared to get more info on Torchwick and his plans. We decided to wear our alternate hunter gear as we wouldn't recognized as easily then wearing our usual outfits.

"Alright guys today's the day, the investigation begins!" I say with glee jumping off from my bed. 'This has been in the works ever since our team had it's small intervention with Blake, and I'm really excited to finally do something about it.'

"I'm glad that we're taking this so seriously.." Weiss says a bit annoyed.

"Hey we've come up with a plan, that's moderately serious." My sister says backing me up.

"Right everyone remember there roles?" I ask the rest of my team to make sure we're on the same page.

"You and I will head to the CCT to check the Schnee records for any other dust robberies or inconsistencies, seeing as I'm in the family it shouldn't be a problem." Weiss states as if she has rehearsed her line hundreds of times.

"The White Fang has regular faction meetings to hand out orders and recruit new members, if I can get in, I can hopefully find out what their planning." Blake says.

"I have an old friend on the shady side of town the typically knows everything going on in Vale, getting information out of him shouldn't be too hard." Yang explains.

"Great we'll meet up tonight near Yang to go over what we found, let's do this!" I say cocking my fist to the rest of the group.

"Yeah!" I voice agrees from behind us.

"SUN!?" Blake shouts as we all jump back surprised by the new arrival.

"How did you get up there?" Yang questions Sun, all of us confused on how he crept up on us so easily.

"Ah.. it's easy I do it all the time." Sun says nonchalantly.

"You do what!?" Weiss spits out.

"I climb trees all the time." Sun explains smoothly. "So are we finally getting back at that Torchwick guy?" Sun continues as he uses his tail to swing himself inside our dorm room.

"We... are going to investigate the situation. As... a team." Blake says to the monkey faunus.

"Sorry Sun, we don't want to get friends involved if we don't have to." I explain to him. 'I kind of just want to keep this a Team RWBY thing, I don't want to get anyone else in trouble if we somehow manage to create a ruckus.

"Psssh. That's dumb you should always get friends involved, that's why I invited Neptune." Sun says pointing a thumb towards the window sill. The four of us stick our head outside the window to see Neptune bracing himself against the wall as he stands on a thin ledge connected to the building.

"Sup?" Neptune says as cool as ever.

"How did you even get up here?" I ask him. 'Really there's only like ledges to climb up here.'

"I have my ways... but seriously though can I come in? We're like really high up right now." Neptune says breaking his cool act as he pushes himself ever closer to the building.

After we let Neptune in our room I come up with and idea to include our new members. "Alright I'll go with Weiss, Sun you can go with Blake, and Neptune you can go with Yang since she doesn't have a partner. Everyone good?"

"Actually Ruby why don't you go with Yang, heh, after all she is your sister." Weiss says confusing me of her motives.

"But Weiss who would go with you then?" I ask. 'Seriously I know we still argue but I'm not that bad a partner.'

"Well.. I guess Neptune could come with me." Weiss reasons. I look to Neptune to see him shooting a wink in Weiss's direction. 'Nope.'

"Naaaah." I say letting out a laugh. I then grab Weiss by the collar and proceed to drag her out of our room.

"But...but!" Weiss protests.

* * *

"Wow! I forget how big the transit tower looks up close!" 'Seriously it has to be like 200 feet tall! It's so awseome!'

"You should see the one in Atlas." Weiss states.

"That was the first one right?"

"Correct. Atlas developed the Cross Continental Transmit System to allow the four kingdoms to communicate with one another. It was their gift to the world after the Great War." Weiss replies.

"Oooh look at me, my name is Weiss, I know facts, I'm rich." I say as start to laugh.

"Don't be pest. Besides the only reason we're here is because you like the tower so much. We could of just as easily made a call from the library."

"I know.. But it's sooo coool. Oh I'm gunna take a picture." I quickly try to take my scroll out of my combat skirts pockets, as I'm pulling it out I fumble the grip and it goes flying out of my hand and across the pavement. It's stopped by someone's shoe as they pick it up.

"Oh. You dropped this." The person says as I realize who it is.

"Penny!?" 'What is she doing here? Where has she been?'

"Uhhhh?" Penny replies.

"Where have you been? We haven't seen you since the night at the docks." I ask her.

"S-sorry, I think you're confused." Penny responds, hiccuping at the end. "Uhhh... I got to go." She states as she throws me back my scroll and starts to walk off in a hurry.

"What was that about?" Weiss asks. 'So I'm not the only one who thought she was acting weird, I have to see what's going on, hopefully Weiss will understand.'

"I don't know. But I'm going to find out, you go make your call, I'll meet up with you later." I tell Weiss as I begin to take off in Penny's direction, I can hear Weiss call for me in the background but I really need to find out what happened to Penny. 'I'm really sorry Weiss.' I finally catch up to Penny and cut her off in order to talk to her. "Penny where have you been? It's been weeks." I ask worried about my friend.

"There seems to be a misunderstanding." Penny says as she continues to walk away.

"What!? Penny? Is everything okay?" I ask her, but she continues to ignore me as she keep walking. "Penny please stop!" I say to her as I grab her shoulder to stop her. "Look I don't know what's wrong but you have to listen to me. Those guys we fought at the docks, we think there up to something big. Something BAD. I need you to tell me what happened to you that night. Pleeease, as a friend."

Penny lets out a sigh and begins to look around as if she worried about someone seeing us. "It isn't safe to talk here." She finally responds.

* * *

After walking throughout the city of Vale for a while we reach a coffee shop and I stop her as I think it's not safe to talk. "I wish I could help you Ruby, but I don't know anything about those men." Penny states as we continue to walk the streets.

"Well what happened to you that night, we were all together and then you just disappeared. Were you kidnapped!?" I ask her.

"Oh.. No! Nothing like that!" Penny states, 'well at least that's one good thing to happen out of this.'

"Then where did you go?" I ask her, 'she really isn't giving me much, I just want to know what's wrong.'

"I've never been to another kingdom before. My father asked me not to venture out too far, but, you have to understand my father loves me very much. He just worries a lot" Penny says.

"Believe me I know the feeling." 'Yang is probably just as bad as my dad when it comes to worrying about me.' "But why not let us know you were okay?" 'I just want to know that you're okay.'

"I... was asked.. not to talk to you. Or Weiss. Or Blake. Or Yang. Anybody really." Penny tells me.

"Was your dad that upset?" 'Oh man I didn't want her to get in trouble.'

"No. It wasn't my father." Penny says. My attention is soon taken by a set of speakers and a small crowd as we round the corner. Apparently some sort of showcase is going on as I soon see what looks like a hologram of General Ironwood alongside some Atlesian Knights.

"The AK-130 has been the standard security model of Remnant for several years, and they have done a fine job wouldn't you agree wouldn't you agree?" Ironwood asks the crowd as he continues. "But the kingdom of Atlas is a kingdom of innovation, and fine, well that's just not good enough is it? Presenting the Atlesian Knight 200." Ironwood says as two large containers beside him open up on top of the 130 models. 'They've looked like they streamlined their looks a lot, instead of internal weapon systems the now have rifles on the hips and back, almost like a real soldier.' "Smarter. Sleeker. And admittedly a little less scary. These models will become active later this year, but they won't alone. Now, the Atlesian Military has always supported the idea of removing men from the dangers of the battlefield. However, there are many situations that undoubtedly require.. a human touch."

"Ruby..." I here Penny say to me but I can't take my eyes off the awesomemazingness before me.

"So, our kingdom's greatest minds, in cooperation with the Schnee Dust Company are proud to introduce... The Atlesain Paladin." A new hologram replaces the General and a giant battle mech appears. 'Wow that has to be at least twenty feet tall, I wonder what kind of weapon systems it uses. OH I can't wait to see one of those things in person!' I'm thinking as Ironwood continues his speech. "Now we couldn't have them here for you today, but these mechanized battle-suits will be defending the borders of our kingdoms within the year." The general finishes.

"Ruby.. maybe we should go somewhere else." Penny says as she starts to back away, she then takes off, away from the assembly and towards an alleyway.

"Penny? Wait? Where are you going!?" I question as I look back to the ground. I then see two Atleasian soldiers begin to talk on their headsets and start pointing in our direction. 'Is this what she meant by it's not safe to talk?' I question myself. Against my better judgement I run off toward Penny doing my best to keep up with her.

We start running through a series of alleyways and across a couple of streets doing our best to lose our pursuers. "Down here! She went this way!" I here one on the guards yell from a small distance behind me. I round a corner and I see a large number of crates on top of a scaffolding, I spring an idea and remove Crescent Rose from my back, I shift into my scythe and I slice off one of the scaffolding's legs. It works and the pile of randomly assorted crates fall behind me giving Penny and I some breathing room. I round another corner and finally catch up to Penny. Using my speed and momentum to my advantage, I take a couple of steps on the wall of the alley way and grab Penny.

"This way!" I say as I trigger my semblance. We disappear in a flurry of rose petals and I soon realize I underestimated how much Penny weighs. 'Seriously does she have bricks in her pockets.' Due to me underestimating her weight I soon run out of steam as I begin to fall, I drop Penny safely as I hit the hard pavement and begins to roll down the alley from the force. I eventually come to a stop as I try to regain my senses, my aura kept me from hurting myself but the force still has me a bit fuzzy.

 ***HONK! HONK!***

The sound pulls me from my grogginess as I realize I'm in the middle of a street. I turn to face the sound as I see an oncoming truck only feet away from me. My eyes go wide as I this is it, I'm frozen in shock as the truck nears.. only for me to feel something throw me hard onto the sidewalk. I look up to see Penny placing her hands out and not only stopping but she literally lifted up the truck and places it back onto the ground (not moving an inch the whole time). 'S-she saved me.'

"P-penny?" I ask her nervously, 'w-why? h-how?'

"Are you okay!?" She asks the driver of truck she stopped. The man replies with a simple nod and 'mmhmm.' Penny starts to back up looking at the small crowd of people who also witnessed the miracle. "Umm.. uh..." She says as she starts to run towards the alley

"Did you see that? Do you think she's okay?" The crowd of people start asking one another.

"Penny! Come back!" I yell to her as she shoves her way past me, still running. She finally stops in a small lot and begins pacing.

"Penny! Please! What is going on!? Why are you running!? How did you do that!?"

"I-I can't. Everything's fine!" She states ending with a hiccup "I don't want to talk about it!" Another hiccup.

"Penny if you could just tell me what's wrong I can help you!" I plead to her.

"No..no no. You wouldn't understand." Penny stutters outs.

"You can try, you can trust me." I plea one more time.

"Your my friend right? You promise your my friend?" Penny asks as she walks up to me, now face to face.

"I promise."

"Ruby... I'm not a real girl." Penny reveals to me as she shows me her hands, underneath her pale skin is a chrome silver, a bit of her external green is showing along the lines of her palms.

"oh." I slip out still baffled by her revelation. 'A robot? How? "Penny I-I don't understand."

"Most girls were born, but I was made. I'm the world's first synthetic person capable of generating an aura. I'm not real." Penny says as she looks down trying to hide her emotions.

"Of course you are." I say as I grab her hands and close them. "You think just because you've got nuts and bolts instead of squishy guts makes you any less real than me." 'Penny you're a great friend, a great person, you're so much more than you think you are.'

"I don't.. Umm.. You're taking this extraordinarily well." Penny states as she begins eyeing me curiously.

"You're not like those things we saw back there, you've got a heart and soul, I can feel it." I say as I touch her chest to reinforce my point.

"Ooh-Oohh Ruby you're the best friend anyone could have." Penny says as she grabs me and pulls me in a bone-crushing hug that would put Yang's to shame.

"I see why your father would want to protect such a delicate flower." I eek out as she continues to crush me.

She finally release me and stands me up to make sure I'm okay. "Oh he's very sweet, my father's the one who built me. I'm sure you would just love him."

"Wow.. He built you all by himself?" I ask.

"Well almost, he had some help from Mr. Ironwood." Penny replies.

"The General? Wait, is that why those soldiers were after you?" 'Well that explains earlier.'

"They like to protect me too." Penny states with a smile.

"Pfft they don't think you can protect yourself?"

"There not sure if I'm ready yet. One day, it will be my job to save the world. But I still have a lot left to learn, that's why my father let me come to the Vytal Festival. I want to see what it's like in the rest of the world and test myself in the tournament."

"Penny what are you talking about? Save the world from what? We're in a time of peace."

"That's not what Mr. Ironwood said." She says tilting her head in confusion.

"Check down here!" I here someone yell out from around the corner. 'Shoot I forgot they were still chasing us.'

"You have to hide!" Penny states as she grabs me and lifts me up over her head.

"Gah! Penny! What are you doing!? You don't have to go with them! I can help you!" I flail and kick trying to break free from her literal iron-grip. She finally releases me as she tosses me into a dumpster to hide in.

"It's okay Ruby, there not bad people, I just don't want you to get in trouble. Just promise me you wont tell anyone about my secret. Okay?"

"I promise." I say as I close the lid of the dumpster to hide.

"There she is!" I hear one of the soldiers yell out. I peak open the lid just a tiny bit to see and hear what's going on.

"Salutations officers." Penny states as she places her arms behind her back in a military stance.

"Why we're you running? And what happened to the other girl?" The other soldier asks.

"What girl? I've been by myself all day." Penny states as she breaks her forms and hiccups, she immediately covers it up as she takes her stance again.

"You shouldn't cause such a scene." The first soldier asks/

"Are you okay?" Asks the second.

"Just a scratch." Penny replies as she shows the soldiers her damaged hands.

"Penny.. your father isn't going to be very happy after he hears about this."

"Just please come with us." The second soldiers states as they guide her away.

"Yes sir." She happily replies. 'I'm glad she got of easy' I think to myself as I start to close the lid of the dumpster. As it's about to close I hear the squeaking of a rat as I shoot out of the dumpster and away from the gross creature.

* * *

Sun and I walk through a series of alleyways as we are doing our best to pinpoint a White Fang recruit meeting. We reach an alley and I see what looks like symbol on a nearby wall. I walk up to it to better examine it and my instincts are correct as it's three claws etched into the wall. 'Looks like they haven't changed the groups calling sign since I've left them.' I peak around the corner to see an older man showing the way to two young faunus. "This is it." I tell Sun as I hide behind the wall.

"You sure?" Sun asks and in return I give him a glare.'Really?' "You know what I'm just gunna take your word for it." He agrees holding his hands up in defeat.

"New recruits keep to the right." I hear a member call out as we walk up to the where the meeting is taking place. Sun stops right before and I turn around to seem him contemplating things.

"I don't get it. If you believe what you're doing is right, why hide who you are?" He asks me.

"The masks are a symbol, humanity wanted to make monsters of us so we chose to don the faces of monsters." 'This is what they wanted after all, to subjugate us. It would only be more so ironic as these 'monsters' took and fought back for everything they promised us.'

"Grimm masks, that's... kinda dark." Sun says as he stares at the mask I placed in his hand.

"So was the guy who started it." I state as I don my half-mask.

"Always sunshine and rainbows with you." Sun says as he places his mask on his face. We make our way inside and it's even worse than I thought it would be. 'There must be over a hundred White Fang members in the building, not to mention an equal number of new recruits dressed in their normal attire. I didn't think they'd have this kind backing all the way in Vale, this is getting worse then I could've imagined.' The members are segregated with all of the recruits being on the right side. 'Common Fang tactic, separate the other members that way you can keep an eye on them if one of them tries to pull something.'

"Thank you all for coming! For those of you who are joining us for the first time tonight allow me to introduce a very special comrade of ours. I can assure you, HE is the key who can obtain what we have fought for.. for so long." The large faunus explained stepping to the side of the stage. 'Wait is that Bane? Shit I never worked with him that much but him and Adam were close. I have to be real careful, I don't want to blow my cover in this of all places.'

"Thank you. Thank you! Please hold your applause." 'Roman!' I nearly spat out as I ground my teeth. 'Of course he has something to do with this increase in White Fang activity.' As he took center stage two individuals to the far left of the stage stepped out from behind the curtains as if they were his body guards. One of them was a small woman wearing a cream colored jacket sporting a tri-colored hair-do of brown, pink, and white. She had a parasol she used as cane as she carelessly looked over the crowd. The other was a White Fang member dressed in pitch-black cargo pants, a blood red padded vest adorned with patches and a matching black long-sleeve shirt. He wore a full-mask that had a large grin etched ear-to-ear with red eyes that leaked down the mask. He was much taller than the girl he stood besides, and like her, he scanned the ground. He looked left to right over the crowd and for what seemed like a split second he stopped and locked eyes on me, only to keep scanning the crowd. 'Shit does he know who I am, no he can't know, I've never seen him before so I just need to stay low-key.'

"What's a human doing here!?" A small faunus female with antlers yelled out. Breaking me from my worries.

"I'm glad you asked Deary. Now I'll be the first to admit. Humans... are the worst. Case and point." Roman stated while he pointed to himself. "So I understand why you would like to see us locked away, or better yet..killed. But."

"So is he going somewhere with this? Orrr?" Sun whispered to me as I didn't acknowledge him, keeping my attention to the speaker on stage. Also keeping an eye on the two White Fang higher ups on stage.

"Before the claws come out I'd like to mention you and I all have a common enemy. The one's in control. The people pulling the strings. The dirty rotten humans that run our kingdoms. Government. Military. Even the schools, there all to blame for your lot in life. And their all pests that need to be dealt with. Fortunately.. I'm the best exterminator around.. no offense to any rodents in the room." Roman says as he motions to the White Fang banner behind him. The curtain falls and behind it is worse than I can imagine, standing there is a giant Atlesian battle mech, spray-painted on the shoulders of the mech is the blood-red White Fang symbol.

"Errr that's a big robot." Sun blurts out.

"How did he get that?" I whisper to him.

"As some of you may have heard, this right here..." BANG BANG clanks the mech as Roman knocks on its hull. "Is Atlas's defense against all the scary things in the world, and thanks to my employer and some of your determined brothers, "Roman says pointing towards the unknown White Fang lieutenant, in which he replies with a quick nod, "we managed to snag a few before they uh.. hit the shelves. Now many of your brothers have moved down into our new operation in the South East, if you'd rather stay within the city that's fine.. But if you're truly ready to fight for what you believe in, this is the arsenal I can provide you. Any questions?" Roman states as the crowd begins to erupt in cheers of approval.

"We should get out of here." I motion to Sun but I'm cut of by Bane onstage.

"Will all new recruits please come forward." He calls out.

"Whelp. What are we gunna do?" Sun whisper shouts to me, he clearly showing signs of panic.

"I'm thinking." I say to him to try to calm him down.

"He see us." Sun says as Roman now looks to our position, he throws his freshly lit cigar to the ground as he starts walking towards us. 'Think Blake think! I got it! He's human!"

"He can't see in the dark." I say as I pull out Gambol Shroud in it's pistol form. I aim towards on of the breakers in the room and fire.

 ***BANG***

The lights in the warehouse go dark as I start to look for an escape route. "Don't let them get away!" I hear Roman shout.

"Sun the window!" I yell to Sun firing another round at the window, it breaks as we begin to jump through.

"Stop them!" Roman yells once more. As we break through the glass I hear a loud whirring of electronic systems. As we land hitting the pavement in a roll I hear several loud footsteps behind us until they collide with a wall, said wall losing as the giant mech we just saw on display is now in pursuit of us. Sun and I using our faunus agility jump onto the nearest rooftop and start jumping roof-to-roof trying to lose the giant mech. The mech keeps pace with us step-for-step as it is running alongside a parallel roadway.

"So you wouldn't happen to have... oh I don't know... some form of backup!" Sun shouts to me as we continue navigating the rooftops.

"On it!" I yell out to him as I pull out my scroll and pull of my team in a conference call.

"Everyone if you can hear me we need back- HHEEEELPP!" I see Weiss roll her eyes as she takes off to help.

"They got a robot! And it's big! REALLY BIG!"

"Oh I am not missing this!" Ruby replies as she is on her way as well.

"That Torchwick guy is in it! But not like in him. He's like controlling it or something."

"Where are you guys!?" Yang yells back.

"Hurry!" Sun yells out as we our now ground level still running from the mech. 'This could be going a whole lot better.'

* * *

I start running as fast as I can without using my semblance towards the area Blake and Sun described. I'm running along the rooftops of Vale in order to avoid all the commotion below, 'Oum knows I don't want to be near a street for a while.' The shattered moon has now risen as it has taken me some time to reach the meeting spot. I now have abandoned the rooftops in favor of running below a series of overpasses that resemble our designated ambush point. 'I know I said earlier I couldn't wait to see one of these mechs in actions but I didn't mean to be fighting one. I'm not quite sure how we are going to take this battle mech out but my team has been practicing hard in order to prepare ourselves for the tournament this fall, we can do this.' I come to a stop as I hear the telltale sounds of a mech running down a highway. I look up to see the said mech tumbling over the edge of the overpass and landing harshly in front of me. Not a moment later Blake, Weiss, and Yang land besides me as we all take a battle stance. The mech corrects itself and stands back up on it's two legs and focuses in on us. 'Alright Team RWBY let's do this!'

"Freezer Burn!" I call out signaling Weiss and Yang to make their move. Blake and I jump back as Weiss switches Myrtenaster's chamber to her ice dust and with a twirl impales it into the pavement beneath her. A large area around Weiss is covered in ice in response as Yang leaps into the air, Yang readies a punch triggering her gauntlet fire a round into the ice. The area around us is covered in a dense fog as all of separate and go mobile. Blake and Weiss go left and Yang and I break left, we circle the mech waiting for an opening to strike. I look to battle mech as a series of red laser shoot out from it in every which direction. As we continue to circle the robot it focuses in on Yang and fires a shot of plasma like energy at her, she barely dodges as she rolls out of the way an continues running the mech then aims at Blake just as Yang starts to pass one another. It fires again barely missing the two of them. 'Alright enough running, let's show Roman not to mess with Team RWBY.' I jump through the debris in created and take swing at it's core with my scythe firing a round to amplify my strike. Unfortunately my blade hardly scratches its hull but it did the job of buying my team time to recover.

"Checkmate!" I call signaling Blake and Weiss to attack. Blake as Weiss run past me as they start to cut at the mechs feet in tandem, they work in near perfect unison as they take turns slice and stabbing at it's legs. Weiss leaps and pierces her rapier into one the Paladins many sensors and back-flips out of the way. Blake is still underneath the mech hitting it one last time but Roman see that she is too open and kicks forward with his mech. Thankfully Weiss is prepared for this and uses a glyph to pull Blake backwards and out of harms way. This must of angered Roman as a set of missile pods pops out of the Paladins shoulder plates. 'So cool! No not cool it's attacking you!' A flurry of missiles fires at my two teammates as Weiss continues to summon her glyphs while the flip and handspring backwards out of the barrage. On their last flip Roman targets Weiss with his main plasma weapons and fires at her. She uses Myrtenaster to shield the blow of the attack and casts one last glyph towards Blake's feet as she hits the floor and starts to tumble.

"Weiss!" I yell out taking a few steps in her direction, but she quickly regains her footing and waves me off. I look back to Blake and see that the glyph Weiss has summoned is starting to take effect. Blake shines in a yellow glow as the glyph empowers her. 'Haste.' Roman responds by firing another set of missiles towards Blake but with the help of Weiss's haste she cuts them right out of the air, each of her swings carry the force of aura and is projected outwards greatly increasing her range of strikes. 'Alright lets finish this!'

"Ladybug!" I yell as run past Blake, she following right behind me. I target the the right leg of the Paladin as I follow through shifting my scythe behind me and firing to quickly change directions. Blake comes from the opposite side as we take turns slice at the mechs leg heavily damaging them. Roman attempts to stop us by firing right at his feet but we use our speed to leap up and over the mech and we come down in unison swinging with all our might at the Paladins left arm. We hit the floor simultaneously as the arm of the mech follow us the ground. Out of the corner of my eye I see Yang flank to mech and she jumps onto its unguarded backside. She begins pummeling it with the help of her gauntlets and the mech begins to whine as its alarms are going haywire. Just as it's about to fall the Mech thrusts itself backwards and into a series of columns supporting the overpass. Yang busts right through them as she takes the large blow but Roman wasn't done, the mech's weaponized arm shifts into a fist a plows her through another column sending my sister sprawling.

"Yang!" I hear Blake shout out, worry evidenced in her voice.

"Don't worry!" I tell Blake as I see Yang push herself back up. "With each she gets stronger and she uses that energy to fight back. That's what makes her special!" I explain as Yang is now standing toe-to-toe with the Paladin, her eyes now blazing red. The Paladin uses it's remaining fist and cocks in back in an attempt to finish of Yang. I could only imagine Roman's face when the mech's fist is caught by Yang and with a war cry Yang sends a hay-maker right back at the fist causing it to shatter in pieces of metal. The mech responds by throwing a kick which sends Yang flying back towards the three of us. Blake throws Gambol Shroud holding on to it's ribbon as Yang catches it mid-air and uses it to stabilize herself and come flying back with another punch, the Paladin leaps back to avoid the crushing blow and takes a defensive stance.

"We have to slow it down!" I shout to Weiss.

"And how do you suppose we do that!?" She replies. After a brief moment of thinking I come with an idea.

"Ice flower!" I shout out. Weiss nods and holds her rapier in front of us bringing up one her ice glyphs. I shift Crescent Rose into it's sniper rifle but I leave the blade out and plant in the ground to steady it from the recoil. I begin firing at the Paladin and after a couple shots to the legs the mech is frozen in place. Blake see this and swings her ribbon as hard as she can leading Yang in a wide arc towards the mech. With one final punch from Yang she connects the core of the mech and sends it rolling away from us as it crumbles to pieces, Roman flies from the hull, tumbling himself as he regains his balance.

"Just got this thing cleaned." Roman smoothly calls out as he begins to dust himself off. Yang, without wasting another seconds sends a round from her gauntlet right at Roman. He covers himself as he readies for the blow, but it never comes as a small girl with Brown, Pink, and White hair blocks the shot with her parasol. Taking a defensive stance near Roman. My team shares glances with one another.

"Ladies... Ice Queen, always a pleasure." He says sending a smug salute. "Neo if you would?" As the new arrival named Neo takes a bow with her weapon. Yang is the first take as she runs forward sending a punch at the newcomer. At the last second the woman blocks with her weapon and Roman and herself shatter into pieces. 'What?' All of us look around to see where they went but the sound of bullhead taking of has our attention, as somehow Roman and this girl are already aboard it. Roman waving as they escape.

"Well it looks like he found himself a new henchman." Yang says annoyed.

"Yeah... I guess she really made our plans.. fall apart." Weiss jokes with a big smile directed at Yang.

"No. Just no." Yang replies

"Wait! What? You do it." Weiss complains

"There's a time and a place for jokes." Yang answers her.

"Was this not it?"

"No, it just wasn't very good." Yang says as she follows Blake to leave.

"Well at least I'm trying!" Weiss complains.

"Wait where's Sun and Neptune?" I ask the rest of team RWBY as we begin our walk back to Beacon.

* * *

"Roman I'm in position. Awaiting orders." I reply looking over the group of four Beacon students. 'How'd it come to this, you guys are my friends, why are you trying to interfere with the White Fang? We're just doing what we have to in order for us to be treated equally. Sure it will be by less than ideal means, but this isn't an ideal world. The weak are punished while the strong take what they need. Ruby...Weiss...Blake...Yang... I'm sorry. But I made a promise to her, and I'll fulfill it by ANY means.'

"Send them a message kid." Roman's voice responded in my earpiece.

"Yes sir." I reply as I focus my sights on the group walking away from the carnage. I was on a nearby rooftop during the fight, my orders were not to intervene as Roman said 'he had it under control.' Like hell he did, he was literally torn to pieces by the team of huntresses. 'Who do I hit first' I think as I scanned over them. 'Ruby? No, she there leader but they would just rally harder around her if she fell. Weiss? No I could target her later if I had the chance, she has low stamina so I could wear her out. Blake? She was certainly a troublesome one, she easily was the most experienced of the group, you can tell by the way she moves. She's definitely seen combat before, I'll keep her in mind. Yang? She was definitely the strongest, and easily the best in close quarter fighting. If she went down I'd have the best chances of taking out the rest of them.'

I centered my cross-hairs on Yang, it was a long shot from here so I'd aim center mass to confirm a hit. I loaded one my standard dust magazines into the chamber and steadied my breath.

"I'm sorry." I said as I pulled the trigger.

 ***BANG***

My round traveled towards the target, it was on target and closing in as a east bound wind came in and altered it's path. The round dug into her right shoulder and a spurt of blood followed as she tumbled to the ground clutching her shoulder. Weiss span around create a glyph to block any follow up shots and I slung SnapShot over my shoulder as I retreated, the message being sent.

B

"Wow I can't believe we really took out an Atlesian Paladin!" I say in delight as we began to walk home.

"Hey it was nothing." Yang said brushing of her shoulder.

"Though I don't condone such brute tactics, it was very effective." Weiss stated as she began looking over her dust levels in her rapier.

"It was rather impressive." Blake agreed as she patted her partner and my sister on the back.

"Aww thanks guys!" As she gushed from the attention.

"Well guys it's a little ways back to Beacon, what should be our next move in the investigation?" I ask my team.

"Well we accomplished a lot today in terms of finding out who's responsible for the increased White Fang activity. I for one think we should get a good night's rest and come up with a new plan."

"Sleep? I'm totally okay wi- AHHH!" Yang yelled as she was hit by some force, blood splattering from her shoulder.

"YANG!?" I shout as I grab my and pull up my sister. I immediately start pouring my aura into her wound to try and stop the bleeding. Tears begin running down my cheeks as I keep pushing my aura in her. Weiss turns around and places a large glyph behind us to shield us from whatever just attacked us. Blake has her pistol drawn and begins scanning the area behind us.

"I-I'm okay." Yang stutters out clutching her shoulder. "It's not that bad Rubes." Yang reaffirms me as she grabs the cloth around her leg and places it over the wound and ties it down. She then stands up under her own power and gives me one-armed hug. "Thanks Ruby" Yang says as she pulls me up and places me behind the cover of a building. Weiss and Blake soon follow. Blake continues to look over the area until I see her eyes narrow.

"There!" Blake shouts and then points. "There was movement on that rooftop about 800 meters away.

"Well what are we waiting for!?" I hear Yang call out as she cocks the gauntlet of her left arm. "Let's get some damn payback."

"Yang you're hurt!" To my surprise Weiss responds.

"She right Yang, let us handle this." I say as I chamber a new round into Crescent Rose.

"Hey guess what's going o- Oh shit what happened to Yang!?" I here Sun call out as he and Neptune have finally arrived.

"Where were you guys- oh for Oum sake never mind. Sun you and Neptune watch over Yang. We're going to catch whoever did this to her. Come on guys!" Weiss motions to Blake and me. I look over to Yang and with her good arm she gives a simple thumbs up and a nod.

"Alright guys let's go get them."

* * *

Using my semblance I speed up and over the rooftops as we are nearly on this person's tail. They duck into another alleyway and reach an dead, at least until they jump off a dumpster and over the fence as they keep running. Weiss is keeping up with me via her glyph's and Blake's semblance helps her keep as well. The suspect in general seems to have caught on to us as they turn their head towards our direction, they un-holster a pistol from the belt and start to fire rapidly at us. The rounds skip behind and below us, all of them missing their mark as they run out of ammo and quickly change magazines. The person rounds another corner and comes face to face with a brick wall and try to take a couple steps up it but they slip and fall to the ground. The person goes square and from the other hip they draw another pistol while holstering the first. They have a sniper rifle slung to their back but they chose not to use it. When the person finally turns around I see a familiar mask. 'I-It's him, the man I fought at the docks.' The figure unsheathes his same red blade and takes a defensive stance. The three of us jump down into the alleyway cutting him off. Blake is the first to speak.

"Who are you!?" She yells at the member.

"A messenger." The guy replies in a muffled voice, obviously affected by the mask.

"So what we're you trying to do then? Scare us off!?" Weiss shouts back towards the man.

"No. Worse." The man replies as he quickly un-holsters his second pistol, firing at the three of us. I spin Crescent Rose to block the incoming rounds as Blake does the same, Weiss simply lifts her glyph to block the incoming fire. After his magazine goes dry he sheathes the weapon and charges with his red falchion. Weiss is the first to counter as they trade swings, neither of them gaining any ground as each of their weapons clash blow-for-blow. Blake then joins the fray as she runs up the side of the alley and begins to attack from his flank. He ducks between them as now he goes on the defensive only trying to black and evade. After several seconds of no success Blake separates Gambol Shroud and her and Weiss go on an all-out offensive. Dozens of swings, slashes, and jabs are sent at the man as they soon start to overwhelm him. Several of their attacks hit their mark as wide swing send the man to the ground, he pushes himself up and now I enter the fight as trigger my semblance and I send two boots to his chest sending him into the brick wall. His grey aura flashes as it has been broken, he pulls himself out from the dent in the wall as he takes a stance once. His breathing is ragged and his legs are shaking as we slowly close in on him. We continue to approach him as we hear a loud yell.

"RRRRRRAAARGH!" I see Yang fly out from over us her good arm cocked back in a fist. The punch connects with his chest as he is sent flying through the once brick wall.

"Yang!?" Blake calls out confused as to why she is here.

"I couldn't let you guys have all the fun. Plus this is payback." She says as her eyes are a deep crimson. She walks through the hole in the wall and picks up the man who is now clutching his chest. 'Probably broke a few ribs on that one.'

Yang grabs them man by the collar and lifts him off his feet and shoves him into the wall. Her semblance in full force as her bad arm isn't showing any kinds of pain. "Who the hell do you think you are!" Yang says as she backs him into the wall once more.

"I'm doing what I have to, for my people. For her." He coughs out. Yang sends him into the wall once more as his mask begins to splinter and chip away.

"Who is her!?" Yang says as she holds him up with her left hand and aims her right gauntlet towards his face. After a few ragged breath's the man responds. "None of your damn business." As he replies a blinding white light hits us all, we begin to stagger trying to regain our senses but everything is white I close my eyes and it's still white. I fall backwards as I stumble over one of my teammates. I finally regain my senses and I look around to see Blake has to, we look towards the alley entrance and the man is stumbling trying to escape. I go to pursue but I am stopped when I hear a gunshot rang out. The round strikes the man left calf as I turn to see that it was Blake that fired the shot.

"We can't let him escape." She say as she begins to walk over towards the man who is clutching his bleeding calf. I look towards the other two member of team RWBY and they have also recovered and follow behind us. Blake reaches the man and delivers a kick to his head hoping to knock him out. Instead his mask is blown to pieces as it flies away from him. He begins to hold his head as a gash from his forehead is bleeding profusely. Blake's form then freezes as is she realized something. The rest of us neared him and we too see what made her freeze.

"Dezmond!?" I shout out, stunned to why he would do this. "WHY! You were our friend, how could you do this!" I shout again.

"I'm sorry" He wheezes out. "But I had to, I can't stop, not until I fulfill my promise. No matter who is in the way." He says as he spits a bit of blood and begins to point his blade, Blake delivers another kick to his hand as his weapon is sent flying from him.

"This isn't what she would of wanted Dez!" I plead. "This isn't they way!"

" **THEN WHAT IS!?"** He yells at us. I go to grab him to pick him up when I'm sent to the ground by a white heel. The rest of my team takes a stance as the woman we ran into earlier is now standing over his downed form. He gives his hand to her and and unison they disappear in a flash of white.

"Twice in one day..." Yang says as she begins to hold her wounded arm as her semblance begins to recede.

My mind is thrown for a loop as I try fathom all that has happened today. 'Mechanized battle suits, Roman, the White Fang, Neo? Dezmond? What is going on?'

"Let's head back, we have a lot to go over." Blake says as she grabs her partner and helps back towards Beacon.

"yeah.." I say to no one in particular.

* * *

 **AN: Phew definitely the longest chapter I've written. I've been waiting along time to finally the part of the story where our protagonists and Dezmond clashed, and he learned a hard lesson. Team RWBY is no joke, this wasn't a team he has fought before and had a plan to deal with. As for what happens next, I'll leave that for to find out. Until next time MidKnight209**


	20. Chapter 20: Impending Disaster

I wheezed as I tried to breath, limping heavily as I assisted to my room. With my eye that wasn't covered in my blood I peered to see who was helping me. I see a woman dressed in tri-colored jacket, some of my blood now staining it. 'That's right Neo, she saved me. Damn it what was I doing thinking I could fight all of them off. I had a clear disadvantage and my own damn pride got in the way. I sent my message I should of just went into hiding instead of trying to lose them. Hell not even to mention I've pretty all but cut off my ties with the only friends I've made. That definitely sucked. But what choice did I have? It was either blow my mission or try to find some middle ground and explain it to Roman. Either way I had a hard decision to make, I just feel bad for gaining Ruby and her teammates trust only to throw it out the window. Damn it why did they have to be involved in this? They're just students, why are they stepping out of the league? Sure they kicked my ass, but I'm merely the scout, who know what would of happened if Roman gave this mission to Neo or Bane. This whole thing is just FUBAR, and speaking of FUBAR. I was shaken from my thoughts as I stumbled once more Neo unable to hold my weight.

I fell to the ground landing on my front-side. 'OWW' I thought as I let out a grunt as I tried to push myself up. Neo grabbed it and helped me up, I leaned against the nearest wall and tried to catch my breath. 'Damn I never thought breathing would be an arduous task, definitely a new low for me.

"Hey Neo have you seen- damn kid I told you to send a message not the other way around." Roman said as he rounded the corner.

"They... we're... underestimated" I replied between breathes. "Although.. judging..by your suit. You did.. the same." I continued with a small grin on my face.

"Hardy har. So kid are you gunna croak on me or... am I worrying over nothing?" Roman asked.

'Is Roman actually worried for me? Nah I must still be delirious from the fight.' "I'll be fine... just need time... to heal up."

"If you say so kid, Neo keep an eye on him, I'd prefer him living." Roman said as he went on to his own business.

"Alright I think I'm good to move again Neo." I said as I threw an arm around her and she help carry me towards my room.

After another minute or so we reached my room and I as gracefully as possible fell onto my bed. After a quick breather I pointed across the room to a large backpack. "Medical supplies." I said as I scooted into a sitting position on my bed. Neo threw the bag on bed and started rummaging through it. After a couple of seconds she pulled out several bandages and some ointments, she clutched a pill bottle and tossed them to me. 'Painkillers.. Thank Oum.' I removed the lid and downed four of them swallowing them dry. From one of the pockets in my vest I removed a small blade used for cutting cloth, I ran it across my left pant leg it cut right through it exposing my wound. Neo took my leg delicately and began to over look it. "So what's the damage doc?" I ask as Neo is still observing.

 _'Good news and bad news.'_ She showed me via her scroll.

"Just tell me all at once."

 _'Well the good news it has stopped bleeding, the bad news is there is no exit wound so the bullet is still in there.'_

"Just my luck, alright let's get this over with." I say as I grabbed my pillow casing and balled it up throwing it into my mouth. I looked to Neo and gave her a nod as she grabbed a pair of clamps from my bag. She plunged them into my wound as I bit as hard as I could into the cloth. "F^%# F*&^ F*&# F*%&!" I yelled into the cloth as she attempted to pull out the casing. I was finally rewarded as I heard the sound of metal hitting metal as she put the casing into a pan. 'That sucked, but I can actually feel the release of pressure from my leg.' Neo than ran some antibiotic over my wound and began to bandage it. As she was doing this I took some water and poured it into a cloth running it over my face to clean off the blood. After a couple of wipes it came out clean and I placed a bandage over that. 'Can't really do anything about my ribs besides hope they're only fractured.

Neo began to finish patching me up as she stood and looked over me frowning. "Hey I know I haven't said it but thank you Neo. I'd be probably a lot worse if you hadn't showed up. Really thank you." I said as she immediately began to type into her scroll.

 _'You idiot.'_

"Yeah I know, I messed up. I didn't expect for them t-"

 _'I don't care about, I'm just glad I got to you in time.'_

"Thanks Neo."

 _'For once I was able to make a difference, you don't how long I've wanted to do that.'_

"Well I just hope next time it isn't at my expense, and hey this isn't the first time you made a difference. Hell if it weren't for your training I wouldn't even be here. Like I said earlier Neo, thank you. Not just for patching me up, but for everything, in all likelihood if you didn't take me under your wing I'd be sitting in some cell or worse. Just thank you for believing in me."

It became harder and harder to keep my consciousness as the my injuries and exhaustion started really taking it's toll, but I still felt her arms wrap around me. It was only now that I realized how small Neo was as she leaned into me. I followed suit giving her an embrace with all the energy I could muster. She soon released me and pushed me into the bed as I let my exhaustion win.

 _'That's what partners do for one another, get some rest, you need it.'_ She showed me her scroll as she gathered the medical supplies and placed them back into my kit. As she started to leave my consciousness gave out and I passed out.

* * *

Beacon Academy, Team RWBY's dorm

I overlooked my team as they began to take of their gear, all of us were tired and it seemed like sleep would be a good idea.

"Why was he with them?" I heard Blake say from her bunk as it was something that was still bothering her.

"I don't know, I thought he was our friend." I said dejectedly to my team. 'Was he really going to hurt us?'

"Don't worry about it Rubes, I'll make sure that guy never gets close to you again." Yang said as her eyes started to flare red.

"I don't understand though, I thought the White Fang hated humans, why would they be working with Roman let alone let one of them be part of their ranks?" Weiss questioned the group.

"Well in the beginning humans were part of the White Fang, they saw that we were being treated unfairly and cared enough to stand with us, but after our old leader stepped down the new one didn't tolerate humans at all. I don't think he's a member, I'd say maybe an adviser or a delegate of some sort. It's clear he's in with Roman somehow as the girl showed up and intervened. Ugh all this mission did was create more questions than answers." Blake said as she began to rub her head.

"I think we all just need some time to let this settle before we can make our next move." I said as I walked towards my sister who was currently leaning against her bunk. "How are you feeling Yang?" I said looking at her shoulder.

"I'm fine lil sis." She said as she pulled me into a light embrace. "Nothing my aura and some shut eye can't take care of." She said with a yawn.

"Alright Team RWBY our next mission! Sleep." I said as I threw myself onto my bunk.

"Seconded!" Yang said as she followed suite.

"Agreed." Weiss followed. Blake didn't respond as she was already passed out in her bunk.

I closed my eyes but those same words kept repeating in my head. _"THEN WHAT SHOULD I DO!?"_ I wasn't sure what he meant by that statement. 'Was it a call for help? An act of defiance?' The only thing that was for certain was that I'd do whatever I could to find out their meaning one day.

* * *

 **DOWNTOWN VALE, WHITE FANG WAREHOUSE**

My eyes opened as I slowly tried to sit myself up. Gritting my teeth I finally sat up clutching my ribs. I pushed myself out of bed and onto my feet. I start taking a couple of steps to see how my leg is feeling. It's extremely sore but besides that the motion in it feels okay. 'Good there's not too much damage to my leg, a couple of days taking it easy and it should be fine. Thank Oum Neo knows her way around treating wounds. Now onto my ribs.' I thought as I removed my shirt to look at the external damage. My left side was a deep purple while my right was just inflamed. 'What the hell is everyone's problem with my left side? Maybe I need to start guarding that side more, I could use thicker padding in my vest but if added any more it would start to weigh me down. I just need to keep training, I got cocky and they pulled my right back down to Remnant. I can't be that foolish again, a bullet wound and some fractured ribs would be the least of my worries if that happened. I guess a nice long shower is in order.'

After putting a pair of jeans and my undershirt I walked towards Roman's office as it would be a good idea to see what's next. I knocked twice on his door and entered, I looked over his room and saw that the majority of his possessions were boxed up. "Look who's up?" said Roman as he placed a couple of rolled up maps into another box.

"So what's next Roman?" I ask him.

"Well kid it's time we take this joint venture of ours to the next level. Now that we have the numbers we are going to reallocate our resources to the South East. We are going to be setting up that outpost in the ruins of Mountain Glenn, and due to that little skirmish we had in Vale... the faster the better. I want to start this move within the week." Roman explained to me still packing up various documents.

"So how are going to do this move? Under the cover of night?"

"That would be the most ideal move. Not only do we have those meddling kids snooping around but we have the police and actual huntsmen trying to find our presence. But... I need you to do something for me first before we move out."

"And that is?"

"I need you to meet my employer. I'll completely honest with you kid, if things do happen to go South in the... well South I may not be around for a while."

"What do you mean Roman?"

"Unfortunately in every operation there is always one person needed to take the fall if things go awry. In this case it will be me, that's why I need you to meet with my associates, if I take the fall then you'll report to her. Now this is all hypothetical kid, if things get sketchy I don't plan on going out easy but it's always good to have a plan B."

"Understood, when did you want me to meet with her?"

"Two days from now, it will give you a couple of days to regain your strength, because hell kid, you look like shit." Roman laughed as he pulled out his scroll and started searching through it.

"Thanks..." I replied. 'Like I didn't know that already.' My scroll pinged as I received a notification.

"That message contains the details on the meeting. Alright kid I got a lot of things that needs to be done yesterday so I'll talk to you after your rendezvous. Also one piece of advice kid, don't overstep your boundaries. Cinder is not someone to mess with, trust me." Roman said as he shuddered a bit.

"Yes sir." I said as I left his office. 'Well I've certainly never seen Roman show sign of fear before, yet just mentioning this Cinder woman caused him to change his tone. Just what kind of person can do that to someone? Looks like I got my work cut out for me.


	21. Chapter 21: Inside the Fire

It was the day of the meeting and was making sure everything was in line for the movement. I looked at my room and almost everything was placed into one of my bags, a walked over to the table and I looked at my freshly painted White Fang mask. 'Man I can't believe I went through two of these in under a week, not taking a chance with this one.' I thought as picked up the mask and started bending it a bit, this time I chose to use a metal normally used for aircraft's. Durable yet still light, typical aluminum I guess isn't cut out for my role. 'Seriously though two in one week? Don't people besides Roman and I know rule number one of fighting? NO touching of the hair or face. You think a team (and you didn't hear me say it) as good as looking team RWBY would respect that rule. I guess all is fair in love and war.' I placed the mask in one of the larger pockets on my vest. Recovery was going better than I thought, since I wasn't able to physically spar it gave me time to work on another one of my hobbies. Guns. In the two days I had to lay low I did a bit of renovation on SnapShot, it was nothing major but after disassembling it I cut down on it's size by converting it into a bull-pup. With it's magazine now towards the rear it made it easier to make the weapon shift where the barrel started, I could now fold it half and essentially it was now it's own carrying case. It condensed the wait on my back so I could move a lot more freely when it was slinged.

This was not even mentioning the new wind dust rounds I acquired. These rounds didn't create a whirlwind or anything super fancy but if Roman was right even from ranges nearing half a mile out the would strike the target near instantaneously. I couldn't wait to try those out but I think my still recovering ribs would thank me if I rested them a little bit longer. My rifle didn't necessarily kick that much but I can't afford to stall out my rehab. I pulled out my scroll and checked the time.

 **'20:00'**

'Whelp I have to be there in half-an-hour, it's probably best if I leave now.' I thought to myself as I shifted my weapon into it's case and slung it over my shoulder. I picked up Mortem which was on the table next to it and shoved it into my right holster. Out of sheer habit I reached for my left holster only to stop myself. 'Ripper... My first weapon, now laying in pieces in some alleyway. I don't think I could find that place if I even tried to. Damn it Yang, that weapon had a lot of personal significance to me. I'll be sure to return the favor, somehow.' As I had all of my belongings I walked out the door on nearly trip as I got caught on Neo's heel.

"Neo what are you doing here?" I asked as I regained my footing.

 _'You think I'm going to let you just go make a fool out of yourself in front of Cinder. Nope I like you too much for you get cremated.'_

"Cremated? That bad?"

 _'That bad.'_

"Well we got some time to kill on the walk over, anything I should know?" I asked her as I began to lead the way.

 _'She's dangerous Dezmond, don't let her looks fool you.'_

"Yeah that's the vibe Roman gave me."

 _'As long as you understand that you serve under her you'll be fine. She has a bit of a control matrix.' Neo said rolling her eyes._

"Hey I went to Atlas Huntsman Academy, I know a thing or two about control matrix's." I said as she gave me a small shoulder shove.

We continued chatting about little things as we continued are walk. One thing I was wondering I finally figured out was her more her background.

"So Neo I've never really asked but you said before that you were training to be a huntress? Where did you attend?"

 _'Shade. It feel like it was a life time ago. Life's funny like that. Who knew three years go by so slowly.'_

"Wait three years? Were you a fourth year when you left?" I asked uncertain of how she would answer.

 _'Third year, that's when everything went south.' Neo showed me her face devoid of any emotion._

"Sorry, I didn't mean to stir up any old feelings. I'll drop it." I told her as she let out a sigh and continued typing.

 _'It's fine, you just want to know more about me. I can understand that now that we are in this together.'_

"Sorry if I went to far... Anyways the meetup should be just around the corner."

 _'Alright, I'll be outside when your done. I'd go in with you but Cinder might take offense to that. You'll be fine Dezmond, just remember what I said okay?'_

"I serve her, got it. Thanks Neo." I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder. Neo froze as her eyes changed into a pale white, only to shatter as a second later. 'Uh okay? Was it something I said? Eh I'll just ask later.' I shook myself from my thoughts as I walked towards the warehouses front door. 'Why is it always a warehouse? Cliche much?' I thought as I pushed the door open. The room was a lot smaller on the inside than the outside, it was very dimly lit as several of the light fixtures were burnt out.

"Hello?" I called out. There was no response. At least until out of nowhere a ball of flame sprouted out of thin air.

"Dezmond Slate." I hear someone say out loud as I notice the ball of fire come closer to me. Only for the light the flame created to reveal a figure around it. It was a lightly tanned woman in an elegant red dress. She hand long curled black hair and a pair of deep amber eyes. Her heels clinked with each step as she approached me. "I've heard quite a bit about from my dear Roman. I thought was it would be in our best intentions if we met before our operation proceeded any further." She said as she held out a hand.

"A pleasure to meet you ma'am." I said as I shook her hand and bowed. 'Just got to lean on the pleasantries for a bit, nothing I haven't learned while is was in the Academy.'

"So Dezmond, what is your relationship with Roman exactly?" She asked.

'I guess she's going to test me huh, just got be smooth and I'll be fine.' "Roman offered me an opportunity ma'am, and I took said opportunity and did the most I could with it. Most people only get once chance, I was blessed with a second and I'll do whatever I can to live up to it."

"Hmmm how humble of you. You're correct, some people never get more than one chance, it would only be wise to spend every day grateful of it. Now then, I don't believe I have introduced myself. I am Cinder Fall, the employer Roman has undoubtedly mentioned before. I let it be understood now if it was unclear. I am the leader of this operation spearheaded by Roman, and in his absence you will fall under me."

"Understood." I said sharply, not wanting to even show a remote trace of disobedience. 'Control matrix is a bit of an understatement, but I can definitely see the dangerous vibe they were telling me.'

"Good. Now let me introduce you two of my associates." She said motioning to her right as two figures stepped out of the darkness. One of them was a very tan girl with mint green hair. She was nearly my height but what put me off was her deep reed eyes. 'Errrr, there's nothing good about some one with red eyes. Along side her walked a tall male with grey hair dresses in long black pants, with a grey and black sort of zipped jacket vest. "These are my associates Mercury Black and Emerald Sustrai." Neither of them made a sound as they took turns nodding when she said their name.

"Dezmond Slate" I said again although the probably already knew my name.

"I'm sure the three of you will become more acquainted with one another in the future, but I thought it would best if you knew each other now." Cinder said as the two of them returned to the shadows. 'They seem friendly, I'll have to keep an eye out for them in the future.'

"So Miss Fall, if I may call you that." I asked.

"You may." She replied.

"Is there anything else I need to know about this South East operation that Roman hasn't told me?"

"Well I left that operation to his control, so whatever information he has supplied you is to his preference. Rest assured you are in good hands."

'Right (good hands).' "Understood ma'am. Thank you."

"Well then, now that we have met there is nothing further I wish to do at this time. I'll be watching you Mr. Slate." Cinder said as she began to saunter away into the shadows. 'Man if looks could kill consider me six feet under.'

"I won't let you down ma'am." I replied with another bow. I turned around an exited the facility. I began the walk home as a familiar presence soon took my side. I looked to see Neo already holding up her scroll.

 _'So how'd it go?'_

"About as good as you could expect meeting someone with a control matrix can go. Yes ma'am. Understood ma'am. I'll do my best. Same shit I've rehearsed time and time again in the Academy."

 _'Yeah that's about how I expected it to go.'_

"Pfft... Yeah well now that I've made my pleasantries with her it's time to focus on this whole operation in the South East. I know you're going to be there, what are your thoughts on this aggressive movement?"

 _'Honestly... I'm not really to sure, normally Roman like's to lay low and small but noticeable hits, you know just hit and run tactics. It's worked this whole time so trying something different is a bit of a gamble, but he always like to make a gamble every now and then. Hopefully it pays out.'_

"Not all gambles pay out though Neo." 'Sometimes you crap out, sometimes it's better to just call it a night while you're still on top.'

 _'I know, but that's why we're here. We're his plan B.'_

* * *

 **AN: Boom two chapters in one day. Now that introductions have been made our duo's attention now turns to Mountain Glenn. How will things change now that Roman has another accomplice, well there's still a little time until the confrontation. So only time will tell. -MidKnight209**


	22. Chapter 22: Until the End

"Plan B huh? I can dig that. Although personally I'm surprised that Roman trusts me that much, I can say why he trusts you, you've worked with him for a while now." I explained to Neo as we continued to walk the streets of Vale, it was far past sunset and at this time of day no one real walked the streets. It was almost peaceful.

 _'Well when you work in the underground the only thing that's worth much is trust, in our world trust is everything. Without trust not much would get done around here. Sure money and dust help smooth everything over but that kind of thinking with never get you to the top. Once you have trust you can start building mutual partnerships, and from there it's one step at a time. Roman's been the business for a long time now, and the reason he's so successful is because he used his word to build connections in all kinds of work. But it looks like finally his big persona caught up to him, and for the first time he's not the one pulling the strings.'_ Neo marathoned on her scroll. 'Honestly I think that's the biggest message she's shown me, how the hell has she learned to type so fast? That was like five seconds.' I thought to myself as I let her speech resonate within me.

"So what you're saying is Cinder Fall has placed him in a position where he had no choice but to accept." I asked Neo.

 _'Unfortunately. Listen up Dez, this Cinder woman is bad news. I don't have much hard information to back that up, but I can feel it when I'm around her. This dark presence, I know we can't say we're the best of people, but she's worse. I don't know what you're plan after this operation is but my plan is to get as far away from her as possible. She's only going to bring bad news.'_

"Yeah I get what you're saying, something just wasn't right when I talked to her. That odd feeling she permeated, I don't trust her." I agreed with Neo. "Anyways Neo, where do we go from here? Even though you say Roman trusts me, he hasn't giving me too much to work with."

 _'That's because Cinder is keeping him as much in the dark as you are. She's only feeding him enough info to take one step at a time. That's why he has been so frustrated lately, he hates being out of the loop as much as you do.'_

"So much for a partnership they have, I hate to say it but I feel like we're going to become the canon fodder at some point."

 _'Well that makes two of us, don't worry about it though. If something really does happen to Roman I'll make damn sure they'll pay for it. I work for Roman and no one else, he might trust that woman's judgement but I won't be so easy to sway.'_ Neo said as she began to twirl her parasol in playful manner. 'She can be a bit scary when the just the idea of a fight enters her mind. I'm just glad that her scary is on my side.'

"So uh Neo there was something that was bothering me... What happened earlier that you used your semblance?" I said a bit hesitantly. It was something that was eating at me a bit, she doesn't just use her semblance for a no good reason.

As I asked the question her parasol slipped out of her grip and hit the pavement, she quickly retrieved it from the ground and stowed it on her person. She then typed out a message and showed me refusing to make eye contact. _'Well, I, let's just say that it's been a long time since I've had any contact with someone my age in a long time.'_

"You mean like someone you relate to? Or a friend?"

 _'Both, besides Roman it has been a long time I've conversed with another person, well if you call you reading my scroll screen conversing...'_

"It was hard at first I'll admit.." I said as she hit me with the handle end of her parasol before I continued. "As I was saying, it was hard at first. Some people could get annoyed with having one way conversations, and believe it or not you can be quite intimidating even being five foot nothing." I continued as I received a second handle check. "But to hell with them if they can't get over one hindrance, especially when the person in question has a lot of good information to tell. Hell the training I've done with you has helped much more than any damn huntsman academy. Not to mention you're a pretty cool person Neo, I'm glad you had the patience to deal with me."

Neo looked with what I could say was the first real smile I've ever seen her give. _'Well I'm glad you stayed through the beatings I gave you.'_ I let a small laugh as she smirked as well.

"Well let's hurry and get back, I bet Roman is going to need our help with all the moving parts taking place." I said as Neo took my hand, and with a twirl of her parasol we erupted into light.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

"Don't worry about Blake, she'll be going to the dance just leave it to me." I heard my sister say as she left the our room to follow Blake. 'Please Blake just take our help this time, I don't want this to end up in another battle in the docks, you promised you'd let us help you this time.'

"So Weiss what should we do before the dance?" I asked my partner who was sitting on her bed overlooking her scroll.

"Umm sorry what?" Weiss asked a bit distracted.

"I said what do you want to do before the dance? Is everything okay Weiss?" I asked taking a seat next to my partner. She quickly pocketed her scroll and brushed herself off.

"I'm fine..." Weiss said with a bit of a sigh.

"You know Weiss what you said to Blake applies to all of us, so if something is bothering you please tell me." I asked my partner. 'What is it that could be bothering Weiss?'

"It's not just one thing Ruby... For one my father insists on calling me but with everything going on he's the last person I want to talk too. All he is going to bring up is how I should be studying to become a huntress in Atlas. Then there's this whole thing with the White Fang, they were bad enough but now they recruited one of own friends against us, I don't think Dezmond was lying to us when we met him, he seemed so honest. When we were fighting it seemed like he was holding back a bit, like he didn't want to fight us. What do you think about all of this Ruby?" Weiss asked me.

'Honestly I don't know, I was so confused with all of this. Weiss never brought up her personal family issues, but now I know why. Her father, I should have seen that coming, as cold as she was she never seemed to truly hate faunus. Everything Blake told me about Mr. Schnee seemed like he wasn't a good guy, yet Weiss showed little of that side, especially when I got to know her. And then there was Dezmond, he was my friend right? Friends don't hurt family though, I don't think can ever quite forgive him for hurting Yang. But the thing is why? Why would he attack us, was this an order from Roman or the White Fang, I hope it's Roman because being on an extremous group's radar would be bad, very bad.' "Ugh I don't know either Weiss, this is all so much, I honestly thought he was our friend too. He's not a lost cause yet Weiss, I just think he's confused, when you lose someone you head can go into overdrive. I just thinking he's acting in whatever way he sees fit, he's just trying to find some sort of purpose."

"And you think you can help him to get on the good side? That's very much like you Ruby, always seeing the good in someone." Weiss said to me while giving me a small smack on the head. "You dolt. But I'm with you, he's not a bad person just misguided."

"If Blake could hear you know." I said teasing my partner.

"Oh ha ha. Come on Ruby, let's go check the dance hall one more time before the party, I want everything to go perfectly for once." Weiss said as she started to leave the room.

"Whatever you say Ice Queen."

* * *

 **White Fang Warehouse**

We reappeared right outside of the warehouse, as I reappeared I immediately lost my footing and fell to the ground. "Damn Neo, and I thought my semblance made me disorientated, but yours takes in to a whole new level." I said as my heading was spinning, I tried to pull myself up but I fell once more, luckily Neo caught me this time and helped me correct myself. "thanks." I muttered out.

 _'No problem, and you'll get used to it after a while.'_ Neo said while she let go of me. I finally regained my balance and made my way inside our facility. By know a majority of the gear and machinery were in boxes or already loaded onto the bullheads.

"There you two are." Roman called with a small grin. "Now that the love birds are back we can finally get this show on the road. No I hope you didn't get yourself into too much trouble with our companion."

"You speak as if Cinder and you are on equal grounds, by the way are meeting went it feels as if this is her show." I replied back smugly. I wasn't exactly wrong in what I was saying but I knew it would rile up Roman.

"Watch your tone there Slate, Cinder may be the one pulling the strings but all this wouldn't be possible without my planning and influence." Roman said while shooting his arms in the direction of all the cargo getting ready for movement.

"I understand that Roman its just she made it feel like this was her blessing, I don't like the vibe she puts off." I explained.

"Well don't worry kid you won't have to put up with her that much, worst comes to worst and I'll just put you under Neo's control." Roman said as I turned as she gave a grin a bowed. "Anyways Neo, Slate, we make our move to the South East now. Cinder and her caddies are going to create a bit of noise in Vale so now would be the best time to slip out while they're distracted. Now I as soon as we make landfall I want the two of you to assist the White Fang in clearing out any nearby grimm threats."

"Sounds easy enough." I replied as Neo simply nodded.

"Then let's go." Said Roman as we all boarded the same bullhead.

* * *

 **Mountain Glenn, 3 hours later.**

Our bullheads slowly started to descend as I awoke from the nap I took during the ride. I didn't know how long it would take to clear this place out so I took the opportunity I had to catch some shut-eye. I felt a presence on my side as I realize Neo had the same idea as me and was still asleep. I gave her small shake and she started to stir. "Hey Neo we're getting ready to land." She finally opened her eyes and looked around before standing up and started to stretch out. She then typed into her scroll.

 _'Thanks.'_

Following suit I stood up and pulled SnapShot from my back and unlatched a lever and it folded out from it's case form and into my rifle. I loaded a magazine of burn rounds into my sniper and slide the release forward, I then engaged my night vision setting on the optics. The ground slowly came into sight as the bay hatch opened up. The wind us is instantly as I looked over the terrain. 'Okay looks like an abandoned city, best to take the high ground and set up shop there, once I do a quick reconnaissance of our area I can give every one a SITREP and we can move accordingly.'

"Hey Neo, I'm going to take the high ground and do some recon. What's your plan." I asked her as I looked through my scope looking for a landing point.

 _'I'll tag along and go from there.'_ Neo typed as she shrugged. 'Winging it eh? Definitely very Neo.'

"Hey Pilot pull us along the highest building, I'm going to get off there and provide support." I said as I opened the door connecting us to the cockpit.

"Got it." A member with goat horns replied.

"Alright kid once the area is clear down there I'll be landing, after all the boss can't be caught doing grunt work." Roman said from his seat.

"Okay I'll contact you as soon as we're good to go Roman." I pulled out an earpiece and put it into my left ear, whenever it was a large operation it helped to have constant communication with the rest of the members. I pulled out a small box and set it to the correct frequency and placed in back into my pocket.

"Any calling station on this net this Red One, comms check over."

"Red One this is Black One read you Lima Charlie." Bane replied.

"Red One this is White One, Lima Charlie Over." Another Fang member named Perry replied.

"Red One this is Eagle One, we read ya. Prepare for exfil." My pilot called over the radio.

"Alright team White and Black remain airborne. I will be conducting a brief recon. Break. Once I have intel I will coordinate the best moving procedures. How copy?"

"Red One this is White One, I read you." Perry responded.

"Understood." Bane said.

"Roger that, Red One out."

I looked outside once more the bullhead even itself with a rooftop and hovered in position. I nodded to to Neo and in unison we jumped out of the bay and onto the rooftop. I winced a bit as I landed, still not having fully recovered from the last battle. 'Just gotta take it slow, giving cover fire won't strain me too much. As long as I play this smart I should be fine.' I took kneeling position and looked over the edge of the building, I scanned from building to building looking for any kind of movement. 'Okay this is a bit higher up than I thought it would be.' I thought as I dropped my magazine and pulled the slide back emptying the barrel, I slid the single round back into the magazine and threw it in one of my vest pouches. I then slid one of my new wind dust magazines into the rifle and released the slide. 'Okay we got a large pack of beowolves about eight blocks down, I can see several ursa strolling through the streets, besides that only stragglers from the groups. Looks like we caught a break for once. Okay now we're should they land... There."

"All units this is Red One, I want you to land near an abandoned restaurant, break, it's northeast from my position has the markings 'hamburger' on it. How copy?"

"Black One reads you, moving now."

"White One is en route."

"Alright I want to stick together, I want to use our numbers to our advantage. No one be a hero. Red One out."

I took aim once again and focused my attention on the pack of the beowolves. Thinning their numbers would be a priority as I didn't our members to be surrounded. "Hey Neo I'm going to focus in the beowolves but as soon as the rest of the Fang lands there going to go after them. Once I open fire I want you to drop in behind them and flank em. Don't worry I got you covered."

 _'Got it!'_ Neo replied as she took her stance.

I adjusted my cross-hairs dead set on the pack leaders head. Thanks to my new rounds I didn't have to worry about distance and wind direction. "On my mark!" As I exhaled I pulled the trigger and the highly specialized dust round rocketed through the air at unparalleled speeds. The round connected with the Alpha's cranium and the beowolf's body collapsed, now devoid of life.

 **"MARK!"** Neo took a running start and jumped of the building opening her parasol. She slowly drifted in the direction of the restaurant. I looked towards the destination point and my fellow White Fang members started to disembark, opening fire on the nearby grimm.

I focused on the pack as the began converging on the my team. I started opening fire on the grimm not caring where the rounds hit on the beowolves. 'As long as I hit them it will slow them down and they could mop them up.' Round after round connected with the swarm of beowolves, some of the rounds connecting with their forearms sending them tumbling over themselves as they were soon trampled by their brethren. 'Truly beasts, they don't care if some of them die as long as they get to their objective. How dare mankind compare the faunus to these creatures, I see why the Fang hates them so much.' I thought as I fired the final round from my magazine, the slide locked open as I now grabbed the burn magazine from earlier, I slid it in and hit the slide release taking aim once more. My scroll's program took over once more as a cursor appeared four mils to the right and 2 down. I lined up an incoming ursa as it was no doubt drawn to the commotion. I led the target by a couple of feet and pulled the the trigger, I followed the round through the air as it left a trail, thanks to the dust, after a few seconds the round connected with the ursa's shoulder causing it to fall the ground now limping towards the restaurant. I pulled the trigger once more and this round went straight through it's skull dropping the beast.

"Who's next!?" I said to no one in particular. The White Fang was slowly expanding from the drop off location and they were now moving from building to building. I looked on as I saw Neo land on the other side of the, she quickly compressed her parasol and went to work on a group of beowolves. Kicking, blocking, and just flat out avoiding their attacks in general she dispatched the group. I zoomed on a nearby rooftop, several younger beowolves were creeping up on Neo, as they readied to pounce I quickly lead them and pulled the trigger four times. Neo turned around just a second to late but to our benefit my quick adjustment paid off and the rounds hit two beowolves mid-leap and the slumped to the ground soon dissolving. The two remaining beowolves jumped as well but this time Neo was ready and she pulled the thin blade from her parasol and skewered both of them. I changed out the near empty magazine for a fresh one and looked over the surrounding area once more. Most of the grimm by this point have been cleared out by the ground forces and no once we had a foothold in the area all we had to do was clean up the rest.

"Calling all units this is Red One, we're going to be setting up an AO in the restaurant. I am moving there now to regroup. Red One out." I dropped my magazine and pocketed it as I collapsed my rifle back into it's case form.

Once my rifle was secured on my back I opened a duffel bag Neo left me before departing and looked over it's contents. I pulled a harness out and fitted it onto my body. I pulled out a hook with a drill attached and drilled it into the rooftop. Once the drill was far enough down I took the last remaining item from the bag, about 200 feet worth of rope and ran it through the hook. I pushed the access rope of the ledge and as soon as it made landfall I ran set of latches through the rope. I took a brief glance over the edge and took a deep breath. "Aura don't fail me now" I said as I gave the rope a good tug and climbed to the edge. I leaped over the edge and braced my feet against the building as I slowly descended. Step by step I worked myself into a good groove and after about thirty seconds I reached the ground. I dropped my harness and stashed it as I may have to use it later. I pulled Mortem from it's holster and made my way down the street. I moved from cover to cover scanning every street as I quickly made my way towards the restaurant. As I neared a pack of creeps rounded an alleyway and noticed me.

'Okay five of them, this should be a good test to see how much I've recovered.' The lead one then let out a reptilian roar as they charged at me. I placed my iron sights on the first and begin firing, after 5 rounds it keeled over and I took aim at the next in line. 15 rounds and twitching trigger finger later only one of the creeps remained. It dove at me as I rolled to my right and out of it's path. I shifted my weapon into it's estoc. I turned around and leaped again as I shifted to my right once more, as it passed my I sent my blade into it's back and followed with a left kick throwing the grimm off my blade. It rolled on the trying to get up but to no avail as the wound cut it too deep. I stepped on the beast's chest and sent my blade through it's head. In response the grimm started to vanish back into the void it came.

I changed magazines and continued on my way towards our makeshift AO. As I approached the building I saw Neo, Bane, and Perry all awaiting me. "Well done Slate, this area is clear and I am reporting only a handful of wounded, no casualties." Bane said while Perry nodded in unison.

 _'Thanks for the cover'_ Neo showed me on her scroll.

"Hey that's what partners do, I got little tired of you saving my ass, it's about time I returned the favor." I said. And almost on queue the final bullhead landed, Roman walking as casual as ever out of the bay.

"Good job taking care of the grimm, now the fun begins." He said as rolled out a map onto one of the restaurant's counters. "Now it would be too obvious is we just simply set up shop out in the open, but if I'm correct there, and I always am, there is building with access to the lower city." Roman said as he highlighted a building.

"The lower city?" I asked as I looked towards the other three members. The shrugged as well and looked back to Roman for more explanation.

"Well you see kid, Vale tried to expand the kingdom here many years ago. Long story short they got there ass handed to them by the grimm. So in their last stand they decided to move underground, literally. It worked for a while and eventually they even built a train tracks into to vale in order to have access to the kingdom's protection. But in their haste they accidentally blew open a cavern with grimm inside. Needless to say they were over ran and Vale was left with no choice but to seal them in, effectively leaving them to die in order to save their selves. But you wont here that story in any classroom. Typical government propaganda, something so negative could get out, it would weaken people's hopes. So what is thousands of people's lives to a whole kingdom. Nothing I tell you, Remnant's one screwed up place kid, but hey you'll find that out in time." Roman told me as the information sank in. 'Damn I knew the kingdoms had a dark side to them but that was just immoral.'

"Depressing thoughts aside, now that this area is clear leave clearing out the inner city to me." Roman said as he started to type into his scroll.

"And how do you plan on doing that?" I asked. But I got my response a half a dozen bullheads flew in and each of them carrying an Atlesian Paladin, the mechs were released and they each barred the weapons as they landed.

"That's how." Roman said smugly as he pointed his cane in the direction of the mechs. "Alright Neo come with me if you would, also Bane and Perry bring your forces along as well. I want to make this quick. Slate I want you to stay up here and keep a reconnaissance. Once the area is secure I'll have you join us."

"Got it Roman." I said as I made my way back towards my rooftop.

"Hold on." I heard Bane say as he called over one of his soldiers. "Take her with you, she could use some pointers." He motioned to a small faunus girl about my age, she had brown hair with antlers that poked through her White Fang issued hood. She carried a standard White Fang rifle but she made a few modifications to it, It had a large scope on the top of it and much longer barrel. 'Another sniper huh?' I thought as walked towards the fellow member.

"Alright stay close, we're going back to my high ground." I explained as I took the lead.

"G-Got it sir." She replied nervously. We made our way back through the city in silence, there was no grimm to be seen as the elders probably were too smart to throw their lives away. We reached my rope as I walked up to a bush and pulled out the duffel bag with the stashed harness. "Here put throw this on and make your way to the roof. I'll take the stairs, I'll have more instruction once we meet up" I ordered.

"Okay.." She replied as she rigged up the harness and start to ascend the rope.

I hopped through one of the broken windows and moved in a light jog as I started to climb the set of many stairs. After a couple of minutes I finally reached the top, I composed myself before I opened the door that led to the roof. "Good you already here, alright let's move down one floor, it will keep us out of the open and more importantly out of this damn wind." I said as I held the door open for her, she walked in and we made our way into the highest floor. I looked like business office of some sort, there was old shelves and computers thrown about as the place has clearly been abandoned for some time. I dragged one of the cubicles to a corner of the room, it would give us good vantage point an the cubicle could be used as cover/something to lean on until Roman was ready. "This should be fine." I told my newest acquaintance as I motioned her over. I unlatched SnapShot and leaned my back against the cubicle as I scanned over the town once again. She took a spot next to me and followed suit with her sniper rifle. Silence took over once more as I could tell this person was nervous, 'hell I remember those days.'

With a sigh I adjusted my mask and tried the silence. "So you have a name sister?" I asked.

"P-Purpura, Purpura Reign" She said nervously once more.

"Hey, relax I'm not like Bane. I like to think I'm more easy going." I said with small laugh. 'Bane was certainly all business.' "I can't help to notice you've made some modifications to your standard assault rifle. What do you have going on there?"

"Oh... Yeah.. I swapped the barrel with a longer one, gives me more range. It also made out of a heavy material so it had hardly any recoil. After that I use some dust rounds that carry more dust in them, that also increases my range. The scope is something I bought on my spare time. I was never cut out for the front-lines so Mercy was the next best thing." She said as she ran her hand over her rifle, the words Mercy etched into it. She was now noticeably far more relaxed.

"Ever think about switching out the barrel to use a larger caliber?" I asked now interested in a fellow marksman's work.

"Yeah, but I'd never have the time to do much. Almost all of my time is spent with the Fang. I can't remember the last time I've seen my family." She said dejectedly.

"This will all be worth it one day, we'll look back one day and see how far we've come. We'll think of all times we struggled and suffered and see how it was worth it, the faunus will have equality one day, but until then we have to keep at it." I told Purpura.

"So it's true then? You really are a human." She asked. I removed my mask and placed it on the floor beside me.

"Yeah it's true, not all of us humans are bad. Even so there's not enough of us humans who will outright stand for the faunus. The hell with them, I've always stood for what I believed in, and I wont tolerate those that don't." I ask explained to her as I balled my fist. "Equality or bust, until the damned end."

My earpiece came to life as Roman began speaking. "Hey kid we almost have things wrapped up here, you're good to come down."

"Got it." I replied. "Well that's our cue." I said as I stood and held out a hand. Purpura took it and I helped her up. "It was nice meeting you Purpura, but duty calls, let's get a move on."

"Right behind you."

* * *

 **AN: Wow so 5,000 views huh? Honestly that's beyond awesome. I have to thank the creators of RWBY, Monty Oum, and of course the awesome community that made this happen. Thanks aside it took longer than I wanted to get this chapter out and with I will be taking a small break, I have a lot of studying to do for a board at the end of the month and once that concludes I'll be able to give this story my full attention. Thanks to everyone who has fav/follow, reviewed, and just plain viewed my story. I'm looking forward to writing the next chapter, until then -MidKnight209**


	23. Chapter 23: Brighter Side of Suffering

**Mountain Glenn**

Purpura and I walked through a building and down a flight of stairs as we made our way down to our new encampment. We walked through one last set of doors and could see that makeshift tents and emptied buildings were now being repurposed for our needs. "Go check in with Lieutenant Bane Purpura, I'm going to make contact with Roman. See you around okay?"

"Yeah, see you around." Purpura said as she took of in a small jog towards Bane's location. I made my way to Roman who was directing various members of our cause.

"Now be careful with that dust, the last thing you have to worry about is being blown sky high if I figured out one you damaged it. Oh hey kiddo, glad you decided to show up. A word please?" Roman said as he motioned me over, and away from the White Fang members. "Good, now that we are away from any potential eavesdroppers. We can talk."

"So are you finally going to inform me or is it your plan to just leave me in the dark?" I asked, I was started to get a bit annoyed of all this hush-hush crap.

"Oh yee have such little faith Slate, can't you ever just accept your in good hands? Or at least my picture of good." 'What was that supposed to mean? Whatever.' "Jokes aside kid, it's time to get down to business. Thankfully the former citizens of this abysmal attempt at civilization were kind enough to leave behind a form of transportation. You see kid it's come time to let the world know of our cause. We are bringing the fight to Vale, you see in a few short days we'll have all of our resources ready and we'll board the train on a one-way ticket into the very heart of Vale. You see all that time ago the Kingdom sealed the tunnels from the Grimm, but those walls they used were built to stop Grimm and Grimm only, you see a train moving at maximum speed will be more than enough to blast through their defenses. And the best part is we'll use the dust we gathered as make shift explosives to bring Grimm with us. You see we'll be leading the charge and the Grimm will like nothing more than to attack the citizens of Vale."

"What do citizens have to do with this though? I thought we were targeting the Government? The Schools?" I asked.

"You think so small kid, once we attack the city of Vale the Government will no choice but to interfere, the schools will follow suit. Once they've exposed themselves we can truly hit them, you see this isn't the end game, but a vital step to taking what is ours." Roman said with a grin. "And then we'll see how they like being the one's that are oppressed."

"But what about the faunus that live in Vale, they'll be caught in the crossfire." I try to reason. 'As much as I want to be the one to finally throw the first punch, this wasn't right. For one if Grimm were involved they would be a hassle as much as they would help. Hell they'd probably injure more of our members then the Vale's response could conjure up on short notice. How could the rest of our brothers and sisters be okay with this? Were they so blinded by the aspect of revenge that they would accept any sort of consequences?'

"Then let them rot!" The deep voice of Bane spoke from behind. "The faunus that accept such treatment and do nothing about it deserve to rot with the rest of them. They might as well be traitors. They can either join our cause or be smothered by it." Bane said as he brought his hand down on a vacant table, smashing it into pieces.

"So buckle up kid, you're either all aboard or your out." Roman said as twirled his cane.

"Y-yeah. I'm in." I replied halfheartedly, I wanted to bring equality to the people but this was going to wrong way, killing innocents to get the one's in charge to show their faces. It was cowardly, despicable. But what choice did I have, this was honestly our best shot, leaving now would put me right back at the beginning, if not worse.

"Good to hear, now as for our preparations you can leave that all to me. Now that we strong-armed our way into this encampment I can take it from here. Feel free to help out with your fellow members or hell just relax, we have a couple of days until this all goes south. Actually north in our case." Roman said as he laughed at his own joke, a quirk of his that he did quite often.

"Sure thing." I responded as I walked away conflicted. 'Maybe a night's rest will do me some good.' I thought as I walked towards some of the make-shift barracks. I took up a cot and closed my eyes. 'Hopefully my dreams can clear up my head.'

* * *

 **The next day**

 **Beacon Academy**

"I think you handled well." Blake assured me as I told them about what happened during the dance. 'Just another thing to add to my list of what's going on. I don't know who this mystery woman is but she reminded of the woman that was with Roman Torchwick the night I met Ozpin. If they were involved with one another is just made everything more complicated.'

"I'm just glad I was able to stop her from whatever her task was. Headmaster Ozpin told me nothing was stolen and the soldiers she attacked had just minor wounds." I told my teammates.

"Looks like my little sister was the hero of the day." Yang said as she wrapped me up in her patented hugs. "Oh you're growing up so fast!" Yang said as she finally released me. "Oh that's right Dad sent us a package!" Yang said as she grabbed said package.

"Oh a letter from home!" I replied as I jumped on her to retrieve it, she effortlessly shrugged me off and popped the lid on the tube. A small lack lump fell out and slowly wormed it's way towards the bed.

"ZWEI!" I yelled as I grabbed our dog as he started to lick me. The other half of my team wasn't so happy as Blake jumped onto my bed in order to keep her distance.

"He sent a dog!" Blake questioned.

"In the mail!?" Weiss concluded.

"Oh he does stuff like this all the time." Yang said as she looked through the rest of the package.

"Your father or the dog?" Blake asked from the safety of my bed.

"Are you telling me the that this mangy, drooling, mutt. Is going to wive wiff us fowever!? Oh yes he is, yes he is!" Weiss said as she started to pet Zwei.

"Please keep him away from my belongings." Blake chipped in.

"Would all first year students please report to the amphitheater." We heard professor Goodwich's voice speak over the intercom.

"Well we can't exactly leave him here while we're gone for a week." Weiss said dejectedly.

"Look there's a letter." Yang said as she pulled out a note.

 _Dear Girls,_

 _I've got to leave the island for a few days so I'm sending Zwei to you to take care of. Enclosed is all the food you should need._

 _Love you both -Taiyang._

As Yang finished reading the letter she tipped open the tube and a large pile of canned food poured out.

"What is he supposed to do with that?" Weiss asked as a can opener fell out with the cans.

"Whelp that settles it, come on girls Zwei will be here when we get back." My sister said as she made her way out of the room. Blake quickly followed as Weiss distracted Zwei. I looked at Zwei as he made eye contact with me. 'There's no way I'm going to leave Zwei alone the moment he arrived, what kind of responsible pet owner would do such a thing?' I looked around the room as I tried to figure out a solution, my eyes came met with a Beacon Academy backpack all of us were issued once we passed initiation.

"That's it!" I yelled as I grabbed Zwei and put him in my bag. "ow you just gotta stay quite for a little while okay Zwei?" I said as I leaned down a patted him on the head. I carefully threw on the bag and chased after the rest of my team members. As I reached the amphitheater, I placed my bag next to several other bags and rejoined my team.

"Professor Ozpin would like to share a few words before we begin." Miss Goodwich's said to the crowd of first years as she set the stage for Ozpin.

"Today we stand together. United." The Headmaster started. "Mistral, Atlas, Vacuo, Vale. The Four Kingdoms of Remnant. On this day nearly 80 years ago, the largest war in recorded history came to an end. It was a war of ignorance, of greed, and of oppression. A war of about much more than where borders fell or who traded with who, but about the very idea of individualism itself. We fought for countless reasons, one of which being the destruction of all forms of art and self-expression. And as you are all aware that was something many could not stand for. As a result, those who opposed this tyranny began naming their children after the core aspects of art itself. Color. It was their way to demonstrate that not only would they refuse to tolerate this oppression, but neither were the generations to come, and was a trend that is held to this very day. We encourage individuality, expressionism, and unity, through diversity. As I have said, today we stand together, united. But this bond cannot exist without effort. Which is why today while the rest of the world celebrates peace. Huntsman and huntresses will work to uphold it. As first year students you will be tasked with shadowing a professional huntsman or huntress on a mission. Some of you may be taken out of the Kingdom for several days, other may work within the walls for the rest of the week. But no matter which path you choose, remember to be safe, remember your training, and remember to do your very best." Ozpin finished as he walked off the stage.

"This is perfect! All we have to do is shadow a huntsman working in the south east." I said to our team.

"Yeah!" Yang agreed. "We'll follow him around at day and give him the slip at night."

"Let's check search and destroy." Weiss reasoned as we walked over to the displays.

"Here we go, quadrant five needs Grimm cleared out." I said.

"Well it's in the south east." Blake agreed.

"Sounds perfect." Yang agreed as well. I touched the screen and enter our team name.

 **MISSION UNAVAILABLE TO FIRST YEAR STUDENTS**

"Well that's wonderful." Weiss said

"Any other ideas?" Blake asked the group

"We mail ourselves there." I said earning a small smile from my older sister and an annoyed look from my partner.

"Well that's one option." The Headmaster said as he overlooked his scroll and walked up to the group. "Unfortunately we determined the concentration of Grimm was to extreme for first year students. It seems that particular region is rather popular. In fact, I have the sneaking suspicion that the four of you will make your way there no matter which job you choose." Ozpin said as my three teammates began to eye me suspiciously. I started to run a hand through my hair trying the best to play it off.

"Whatever makes you say that?" I ask the Professor.

"I'm still curious as how you all found yourselves at the docks last semester. I'm interested to know how you really learned about a hideout in the south east. And I certainly want to know why witnesses reported seeing robots and rose petals at a dance club some time ago." He continued

"Uh-huh-well..." I started trying to come up with an alibi.

"I doubt I'll ever find the exact answers I'm looking for, so how about this? Instead of waiting for you all to break the rules, why don't we just bend them." Headmaster Ozpin said as he input on his scroll the credentials needed for us to go on our mission.

"We won't let you down. Thank you Professor." I said as the rest of my team was excited to be given his blessing.

"Do not thank me for this. Teammate and persistence have carried you far, but you must understand. The things that await you beyond the protection of the Kingdom will not care. Stay close to your huntsman at all times and do what he says. He will be leading you on this mission and he can have you sent back to Beacon if he finds your skills to be unsatisfactory." Professor Ozpin said as he walked off before adding "Good luck."

We left the amphitheater and walked towards the airport near the edge of the school. "Well that wasn't exactly uplifting." Yang chimed in.

"But it's the truth." Blake responded.

"It's going to be tough but I know we can do it!" I said to our team in an attempt to bring their gloomy looks up.

"Hey team CFVY is back!" A student said out loud as then went on to talk to Fox.

"Velvet! Are you okay?" Blake asked the fellow faunus.

"I'm fine I had Yatsuhashi to look after me." She said as she motioned over to the tallest member of her team. He giving her a small nod as he continued walking with the rest of his team.

"Your mission was supposed to end a week ago. What happened?" Weiss worriedly asked.

"N-nothing happened. There was just... so many." Velvet replied looking downcast. "Oh but don't worry, you first years are just shadowing huntsman so you should be fine." Velvet finished.

"Rrrright.." Yang replied sarcastically.

"I should go, be safe okay." Velvet said with a small wave as she rejoined the rest of her team.

"We can do this. We've never backed down before and we're not going to start now." I said to my team.

"Right." Blake said with a smile on her face.

"Besides it won't be just us out there, we'll be alongside a genuine huntsman!" I said in excitement.

"Yeah!" My sister said backing me up.

"Well hello girls. Who's ready to fight for their lives?" Professor Oobleck said as he stepped out of the awaiting airship. "..." Was all I could say in response. 'But, but, why?'

* * *

 **Mountain Glenn**

 **Team RWBY**

"Doctor Oobleck, I've been wondering?" I asked as we walked back towards our temporary sleeping arrangements.

"Wondering why I've been interrogating your teammates all day?" Doctor Oobleck questioned back.

"A-actually, why is that you wanted to become a huntsman?" I asked curiously.

"Look around Ruby, tell me what you see?" He asked.

"Uh-uhm lots of old buildings, empty streets."

"I see lives that could of been saved. As a huntsman it is my job to protect the people, and although I am capable of doing it with traditional weaponry I believe I can make a much larger impact if I do it with my mind. As a teacher I am able to take knowledge, the most powerful weapon of them all, and place it in the hands of every student that passes through my classroom. I look at this wasteland and see lives that could of been saved, but I also see an opportunity. An opportunity to study from these ruins and learn from this tragedy, and therefore become stronger. I am a huntsman Ruby, because there is nothing else in this world I would rather be." The Doctor said he led us to our camp. I got a small sense of pride knowing his honest words, at least there is something we have in common.

We made our way back to the designated building as the sun set, unfortunately I didn't think to dress warmly so I was very much ecstatic to see a camp fire.

"Ah yes, a textbook campfire." Doctor Oobleck said as we arrived.

"Fire! Soooooo waaarm." I said as I placed my hands near at began to warm my face as well.

"Great, now we'll need to set up a watch, any first takers?" Oobleck asked.

"Yo!" I replied as I quickly made my way over to a good over watch position. 'I might as well take the first shift, I'm already awake, and it sure beats being waken up in the middle of the night and having to force myself up.'

"Hey Ruby." Yang stopped me by grabbing my shoulder. "Did Doctor Oobleck ask you why you wanted to become a huntress? I mean what did you tell him?" She asked.

"Hmm no, weird, oh well. Good night guys." I said as I found a good position. 'I wonder why Yang was so worried about the questioning, she has nothing to worry about. All she ever wanted to do was see the rest of the world, it's been her dream as long as I can remember. This was probably her best chance of doing it, and it was for a good cause.'

* * *

I continued trying to keep my thoughts occupied as only an hour has past. I checked my scroll for probably the 30th time. 'Just one more hour Ruby you can do it.' I tried motivating myself but after a day of fighting Grimm was taking it's toll. Every time I blinked my eyes seemed to stay closed longer and longer. I shook my head trying to pull any energy I had to keep myself up. I pulled Crescent Rose's optics to my eye once more as I checked our perimeter trying to think of anything other than sleep. As I looked into my scope I saw a lone beowolf sniffing through some rubble, it looked in my direction is if it could sense me, after a few seconds it continued rummaging the the rubble and soon got out of my sight. I let a sight of frustration as sleep was doing it's best to beat me. I looked into my scope once more and close my right in order to get a good sight picture, unfortunately my other eye followed suit and I was comforted by the darkness.

.

.

.

.

.

..."Hey Sis I got it from here." I felt Yang my shoulder and shake me.

"NO I WASN'T SLEEPING!" I said a little to loud as I was startled from my sleep. Yang let a small chuckle and helped me up from my position.

"It's okay Rubes, you've done a lot today. Now go get some actually sleep." My sister said as she pulled me into a small embrace.

"Thanks Yang." I said as I shifted Crescent Rose into it's compact form and walked towards camp fire. 'Looks like it's still going.' I though as I laid down on the remaining sleeping bag. Blake and Weiss were comfortably asleep as our Professor was asleep as well. I shifted into a comfortable position, Zwei quickly took my side as he cuddled into me. Darkness overtook me once more.

.

.

.

.

...*BARK* Zwei squeaked as he woke me up.

"Ugh Zwei it's late go back to bed." I said groggily as I let out a yawn. Unfortunately Zwei wanted no part of that and ran off and down the stairs. "Ugh Zwei!" I said as quietly as possible while still trying to get his attention. I looked around and it looked like I wasn't asleep very long as Yang was still on watch. I let a sigh of frustration as I grabbed Crescent Rose and made my way after Zwei.

"Zwei! Zwei!" I called out as I stepped outside of the building, only to find him relieving himself on the building across the street. "Ugh Zwei this is a wasteland. You could of done that literally anywhere." I scolded him as he barked back in response.

"What was that?" I heard a voice say as I pulled Zwei into my chest and used a wall for cover.

"What was what?" I heard a second deeper voice say. I peeked around the corner to see two White Fang members looking around.

"I don't know I thought heard something, maybe a beowolf."

"Whatever, let's get our patrol over with and get back to base. This place gives me the creeps." The second member said as they started to walk off. I placed Zwei on the ground as I started to shadow the members. I made my from building to building, slowly but surely stalking them. They walked around another building and I followed. I was about to round a corner but nearly tripped on some sort of rope. I looked at the rope and noticed it ran up the building I was hiding behind, all the way up to the roof. 'Why is that here? Was somebody hiding here? Never mind i'll check that later after I find out where these guys are going.' I thought as Zwei walked up to me. I grabbed him and placed around the corner like a periscope. "Are they gone? One bark means yes." I held him as I heard a metal door close.

*BARK*

"Oh this is it! This is it!" I said full of renewed energy as I pulled out my scroll. I found Yang's number and called her.

 **NO SIGNAL**

"Ah man, come on we have to get the others." I told Zwei as I began to run back towards our camp. I took a couple steps but stumbled as I felt the ground below me shift. I tried to regain my footing but a hole opened up in the street as I fell. Zwei was falling and at last second I grabbed him by the excess skin on his neck, my other arm clinging to the now hanging street. With all my might I threw Zwei back up to safety as the chunk of street broke. The wind rushed my ears as I was now falling. 'Is this it?' I asked myself as tears started to fall from my eyes.

I hit a hard surface a few seconds later. My head was throbbing as the impact likely took a large chunk of my aura. I rubbed my head and eyes clear of the tears as I looked at where I was.

It was like a subterranean city as there was building in this underground world. I continued looking until I hear a metal door being kicked open.

"FREEZE!" The same White Fang member from earlier yelled as he had his rifled pointed at me.

"What is she doing here!?" His partner yelled.

"You're a long way from home little girl." The first guard said as he approached me, his weapon still trained on me. I reached behind my back to grab my sweetheart. I let a gasp as there was nothing but air on my back. 'Oh no I must of dropped it when I fell.' I realized as the second guard grabbed my wrist.

"Come on." He ordered.

"Hey hands off!" I yelled as I broke the grip. With all my effort a I leaned back a threw a punch right into his gut. He didn't flinch as I went to follow up with a punch to the head. He blocked it and then caught me with a left cross that sent my already foggy head to the ground. I tried to push myself up but all I saw was a incoming boot. 'Yang.. Weiss..Bla..'

* * *

My vision was slowly coming back to me as I was being dragged throughout a makeshift town. I looked around as I saw dozens of White Fang members moving around crates and boxes. There was even more Atlesian Paladins helping their efforts. I came to a stop as we neared a train. 'Wait what's a train doing here?'

"Hey boss we got something for you to see." The member with glasses said.

"Perry this better be good because let me tell you I have had a day.." I heard a familiar voice call out from the train.

"Umm.. it's a little girl?" The member now known as Perry said.

"Thaaatt would be bad." Roman stuck his head out as he threw out his half-smoked cigar.

"Tell you what I'll be there in a second, I need to finish this up. Tell your fellow lieutenant to handle her while I finish up." Roman said as hurriedly made his way back into the train car.

"Hey Red One we need you her ASAP." The man said through a earpiece.

"On the way." His earpiece chimed back. 'You've really done it now Ruby. What were you thinking leaving your teammates without informing them. I should know better. Ugh Weiss is going to have me on a short leash, as if she didn't already.'

"Hey Perry what is i-?" The voice said as I turned around and saw that Cheshire smile of Dezmond's mask. 'No.'

"Hello Ruby."

* * *

 **AN: So I got a day off and that led into one more chapter. Anyway approaching another big check mark on my story as we near Volume 3. Still working out the kinks on my OC will tie into that story as well as the rest of the teams. But now I finally have the endgame in sight and it's time to finally start working towards it. I'm extremely excited for the next two chapters and look forward to fleshing them out. Until then -MidKnight209**


	24. Chapter 24: Ember to Inferno

"D-Dezmond?" Ruby asked as she tried to shake herself from the haziness.

"Perry leave her to me." I commanded as he and his fellow member took their leave. "Why is it Ruby that you feel that you must interfere in our plans? Do you not realize that you are still teenager? These people here do not care for your background and will show you no mercy. Luckily for you I will not allow that." I said as I continued pacing back and forth.

"Why? Why are you doing this Dezmond? You're better than this!" Ruby practically shouted at me.

I responded by sending a boot to her chest sending her to the ground. She looked up at me with a sense of betrayal. "Maybe I was Ruby. Maybe at one point it wouldn't be too late to redeem myself and stop this from happening." I now took a step over her in a threatening stance. "But it's too late now. The wheels of revolution are churning and you either stand alongside it or be run over. This is the only way, no the BEST way." I finished as turned my back to her and started to walk off.

"It's never too late! There's always a way. Even if it's the hardest way, there's a right way and wrong way Dezmond. Can't you see what you're doing is wrong!?" She yelled back.

"...Yes. I know it's wrong, but I can't stop now. I can't start over again."

"Why not? Is it because you're too weak to admit that your wrong!" Ruby said almost taunting me.

"Do not speak to me about weakness, you're in no position to talk. Be grateful I'm the one holding you captive at the moment, for my brothers and sisters will not show the same compassion. The only reason you're not in a cage right now is because you helped me out in a bad time, and yes, I am grateful for that. But don't misplace my sympathy for friendship."

"Please you have to stop this, think of all the people that could be hurt, that could be killed because of what you're planning."

"Death never results in anything good, it will only create a circle of destruction. The people that lose their lives when we strike will likely have loved ones, and in return those loved ones will seek revenge by killing our members. The never ending chain will go on and on until there is nothing left. But if we have to tear down this world to gain equality for everyone, men, women, human, faunus, then so be it." I said as I removed my mask.

"You have to give peace a chance Dezmond, this can be worked out the right way..." Ruby pleaded.

"Eighty years Ruby, eighty years these people have waited. This has gone on so long that the generations of faunus born today have never experienced equality for themselves, equality being just some sort of make believe tale. And you tell them to wait!? They've waited long enough, we will not stand by anymore, this is the time for action. War will be inevitable, but you look at the downsides to war. This is no different then the Great War. Back then the people rised up for what was right, and this... THIS is right."

"But..." Ruby started but I wasn't in the mood to argue.

"But nothing Rose." I started as she cast her eyes downward as I used her last name. "Now on to the matter of your interference. As reckless as you may be sometimes you are not stupid enough to come barging in here without some sort of backup. Most likely your team is will be following soon, and that makes my situation a hell of a lot harder. The best situation for me would to take you and use you as a hostage, but that is a cowards move and this revolution doesn't stand for cowards. Now what should I do with you." I said as I removed Mortem from it's holster and began twirling it a bit carelessly.

"Please Dezmond, just let me go, there's still time to fix this."

 **BOOM**

"Well now it looks like we out of time." I said as the explosion was followed by the sound of gunfire. I looked to my right and several squads of White Fang members were moving towards the gunfire. I looked back to Ruby but all I saw was falling rose petals. I pulled an immediate 180 and aimed in the direction of Ruby now running full speed. I leveled her in my iron sights and exhaled, I started to pull the trigger and as it was almost half-way depressed I stopped and removed my finger.

"Consider this your one warning." I said to myself as I holstered my weapon and ran straight towards train.

"ROMAN! We've been compromised!" I yelled as he stepped off the train.

"We were compromised the moment she was captured Slate. Luckily due to my quick reflexes the majority of the cargo is either already on board or being loaded." Roman said as he leaned onto his cane.

"So we're leaving now?" I asked. 'This could screw up the plans severely.'

"It will be a small setback, but it the larger picture our message will be sent." Roman said as he stepped back onto the train, dozens of white fang members doing the same.

"But at what cost Roman!? We can't just run now after all we have effort we placed. We can take these huntsmen, we have the numbers, the cargo. WE NEED TO MAKE OUR STAND HERE!" I now yelled at the man. 'Was he seriously just planning to bolt, leaving this early would end up in mistakes, possibly large number of preventable casualties.

"It's not my call kid, and what does it matter? Don't tell me you've actually fallen for the animals. I thought you were smarter than that kid, all these people are looking is a someone to tell them what to do, they don't care what there doing as long as they have leadership to inspire them." Roman said as I followed him inside the train.

"You... you used me? You don't give a damned about the faunus, not as long as they do whatever you want. You've been feeding them tales of grandeur but there just cannon fodder to you aren't they." I said in shear disgust, 'this bastard has been using me the whole time, making promises of equality to the members and myself, and why? Because they need the personal.'

"Don't be stupid kid, I personally don't care for anyone but myself, after all that's how I got so far. So don't take it personally. But yes it's true, we can't do this without the White Fang's support. Don't get it wrong kid, I'd sure as hell love to teach those brats a lesson, but this isn't my call." He said the sentence as seriously as he could.

"Cinder..." I muttered

"If you still have a problem when this is all over with kid, then take it up with her." He said turning motioning to follow him as we made our way to the front of the train. As we arrived he grabbed an intercom and held the button. "Attention everybody we are leaving now!" Roman said as he spun around, we walked to the cart connected to the lead car. As the door close he took his cane and smashed the locked close to ensure no one get in.

"So what's the plan." I asked Roman as Neo appeared in a flash of light.

"Now that everyone is hear, the plan is rather simple. No one passes. How you two want to do that is up to you. But no one is getting past me." Roman said cockily as he pulled out a cigar and started to smoke it.

"Let's go Neo." I said as she nodded and followed. We got to the next car and Bane was currently in the room directing some of his members over his earpiece. "Bane!" I called out as he slowly turned around.

"What is it." He asked almost annoyed.

"Roman, Neo, and I have got it handled down here. I need you to head up top and guard our flank. Roman's has given the green light to use all of our equipment. Plus it's a little cramped down her for your fighting style." I said the last part a bit jokingly. Unfortunately it didn't seem he was in the joking mood.

"Fine." He said as he opened up a side door and made his way out. I nearly lost my footing as the train started to move, it now accelerating as quickly as a train this old could.

"Hey Neo take the car in front of me, I want to keep a close eye on Roman okay?" I asked Neo as she raised one of her eyebrows in a questioning state before sighing and moving on. I let out a sigh as I donned my mask once more. I drew Mortem and shifted into it's blade. 'Roman you better hope one of them gets past me, because they're going to be the last of your problems if this all goes to hell.'

* * *

"RUBY!" Yang said as she pulled me into one of her patented hugs. I returned the embrace briefly before letting go.

"Are you okay!?" Weiss asked me with small amount of fear in her tone. Blake then took Crescent Rose from her back and handed it to me all of Team RWBY plus Doctor Oobleck and Zwei joined me.

"I'm fine! I fine!" I yelled trying to quell their worries. "But the White Fang is here, Roman and Dezmond are here and they have all kinds of equipment. Mechs, cargo, dust and there boarding it on a train." I told my team.

"What!?" Blake questioned.

"That's preposterous, the tracks are sealed, they lead to a dead end." Doctor Oobleck said as he was cut off by a loudspeaker.

"All aboard! We are leaving now!" I heard Roman's voice call over the loudspeaker as the train's pistons started to churn forward.

"So what's the plan!?" My sister asked as she looked to the rest of the group. 'We only have on real choice..'

"We're stopping that train." I said as I deployed my sweetheart.

* * *

"Sir they made it on the train!" One of my the White Fang members yelled to me as he entered my cabin.

"Take whatever equipment you need, Paladins included. You and the rest our brothers have a green light. Understood?" I said to him as I heard footsteps above me. 'Looks like Bane's already taken an aggressive defensive stance.'

"Got it sir!" The fox faunus replied as he turned away and started bellowing my orders to his fellow soldiers. 'At the very least all we have to do is delay them enough until they don't have time to stop the train. As bad as this "surprise attack on Vale" is, the sooner it's over the better. Then we can really start to lead attacks on the Kingdoms and see the slow burning of change.

I started to here distant gunfire as it sounded like first contact has been made. 'How will they do this? Will they just try to bull-rush through or will they try to use team tactics to defeat us one by one? Although try as they might I seriously doubt they will be able to get past Neo. Even if they manage through Roman and I will be more than enough to clean them up.

*BANG*

I heard a gunshot come from the car in front of me. I readied myself as whoever was in the next room could come any second. I waited patiently and almost on cue the door opened up in front of me. 'Blake and Weiss huh?'

"I got him, you go on ahead!" I heard Weiss tell her teammate as they came running at me. I shifted into a defensive stance and moved towards my right to block Blake's path. Blake combined her weapons and swung with a heavy overhead strike. I went to block but shifted further right last second letting her strike pass by as she stumbled forward. I sent the handle of Mortem into her ribs and kicked her forward continuing her momentum. She landed in a roll and continued to run past taking her blade to cut through the locked door. 'It's on you now Roman.' I thought as Weiss rapier stabbed at me as I evaded and blocked her strikes. I continued so until her blade turned green and she sent swung a horizontal strike, her blade met mine but the dust in her blade carried a lot more force than expected and threw me back several feet.

I regained my composure, and took another stance as she stood across the cabin rapier aimed at me. "It's just you and me, heiress." I mocked as I remembered Neo's training.

 _'Remember the best offense is a great defense. Block, evade, parry, whatever you need to do to get your opponent off balance. Also sometimes getting under the enemies skin can be very effective, using the anger or arrogance against an opponent can lure them into making a mistake. And if you have a great defense you will be ready to capitalize on that mistake.'_

I saw Weiss grind her teeth a bit as her blade shifted red. She flew straight at me in a blur. I leaned low and dodged last second, as she missed I spun into a kick and it landed square into her back knocking her forward. I quickly shifted into my pistol and began to open fire. The first two rounds struck her in the chest as her aura negated their effects, my next five rounds were blocked as she raised some sort of glyph by motioning her hand. I shifted back into my blade and didn't let up as I charged her. 'Gotta keep up the pressure, I can end this now!' I thought as I sliced at her glyph cutting through it. She hand-sprung backwards and motioned her hand in a circle as she stabbed at me once more. I dropped low and swung upwards at her rapier to parry her blow but a some sort of force field blocked me and sent me backwards.

"Neat trick Weiss got any more!?" I taunted as dusted myself of taking a low stance.

"I'll show you not to mess with a Schnee!" Weiss yelled as a glyph that resembled a clock began to turn. I shifted to a defensive stance as several glyphs all around me appeared out of thin air. She once again blurred right at me as she stabbed forward, I blocked it and went to counter with a high-left kick but she disappeared. I looked around for her only to feel her blade hit me from behind cutting into my aura. I went to counter again but was hit from behind once more, she hit me over and over again as she was cutting heavily into my aura. She ended the assault in a two-legged kick that sent me stumbling backwards. A glyph in the air formed above me as she jumped on it and came with forward with a strike likely to break my aura.

'Got no choice now.' I thought as I triggered my semblance. The cabin was blasted with light and her strike went wide, missing me by mere inches. Her momentum carried her into me and I held on as we fell into her tackle. We rolled a couple of rotations as I now had the upper hand, as Weiss was still blinded I disarmed her. She was doing her best to shake the effects of my semblance as I shifted to her backside and pulled her into a rear-naked choke. She now aware of her surroundings kicked and elbowed me with all her might. Her attempts were to no avail as I had the choke locked in. In her struggle she managed to push us to our feet. My head and back struck the wall as she tried to ram me into it. Her struggles were getting weaker and weaker as she was nearing unconsciousness. 'Just a little longer' I thought as I gritted my teeth from the pain in the back of my head. I looked down as a black glyph formed.

I fell to the ground as my body suddenly felt like it weighted a ton. Weiss fell out of reach as she clutched her throat gasping for air. With all my strength I pushed forward and out of the glyph's effect. Weiss tried to push herself of the ground as she made her way for the door separating us from Blake and Roman. The door opened automatically and she made a run for it as I kicked her into the new room.

She landed rolling across the ground as I saw Blake standing over Roman. 'What!? How!? He handled her and that other faunus with no problem last time.' She kicked Roman in the jaw and he fell unconscious as she ran to her teammate and held her overlooking Weiss's injuries. I made my way into the cabin and as Blake saw me she pulled Weiss into her and ran outside via the side door. I made my way over to Roman and checked him for a pulse. 'Okay good, just knocked the hell out. Damn... with him down it's up to me fix this crap.' I ran back towards Neo's cabin and barged in. I looked in but it was void of life as the cabin was now empty.

I pulled up my headpiece and clicked the mic on. "What the hell is going on! Status report!" I yelled to all open channels.

"Everyone brace for impact!" I heard Bane yell over the channel.

.

.

.

"Shit..." I muttered as I threw myself into the closest wall and leaned on it hard before being thrown to opposite wall. I tried to keep my eyes open as I pushed myself up, I took a few steps before falling again. The only thing I could hear was ringing as my vision was blurred, I got myself to kneel and as I pushed up once more my body gave in to the darkness.

* * *

 **AN: Alas the setup for the final chapter of Volume 2, lines will be drawn. Until the end -MidKnight209**


	25. Chapter 25: Disasterpiece

A ringing sound filled my ears as my eyes slowly creaked open. Still on the ground I looked around the cabin. 'What... why does everything look different.' I thought as I slowly pushed myself to a kneel. I continued to look seeing all the various crates thrown and disheveled about. I then realized why everything looked rearranged, I was kneeling on one of trains walls, the train had been derailed and thrown on it's side. I placed my hands on both sides of my knee and pushed up, as stood up I immediately lost my balance and fell into the wall. 'Damn it my aura's probably shot' I thought as I pulled out my scroll, the screen was shattered and now no use.

'Gotta get communications with somebody, anyone..' I slowly moved along the wall as I was still shaking my head clear of the probable concussion I have. 'But that was something I could worry about later, I have to find the others.' I reached the door that connected me to Roman's cabin as I finally got my footing. I pulled it hard as it was jammed and the door fell off the hinges. I looked inside but all I saw was rubble, either Roman got through in time or he's under it all. 'Shit, that way is blocked where do I go now, I can't go back because of the...'

"Damn it... the Grimm." I said to no one but myself. 'Wait the others... If I'm trapped here that means they are too... We have to go back.. All the way to Mountain Glenn. It was literally miles we traveled. Now miles be even more against a bunch of pissed of Grimm. Not to mention that it was straight line. This is bad, really, really bad.'

'Okay think Dezmond, think.' I berated myself as I checked my ammo. Okay I have six 20-round magazines for my sniper, and eight 15-round magazines for my pistol. It's going to have to last the duration. Okay step two, I need to find backup, if there still alive...' I thought as I heard banging on the roof-err side door. I drew my pistol and took aim at the door and awaited the beasts on the other side.

"Please is anyone in there you gotta help us!" I heard a voice yell.

I grabbed the handle of the door and yanked it open to see a two White Fang members carrying another wounded member. Behind them I could see two more members firing at some oncoming Grimm. "Hurry get in here!" I yelled as the helped the wounded member in, one of them immediately started treating the injured member and the other ran out to help cover.

"Thank Oum it's you sir." The injured one who I realized was Perry said. "None of us made it out of the tunnels before they were sealed sir. Luckily the majority of the Grimm blew right past us, but the one's that fell off the train I don't think... I don't think they made it sir." Perry said as he began to cough a bit of blood.

"Damn it, how many of our brothers are still out there?" I asked.

"I don't know, it-it's chaos sir. We're just fighting for survival at this point, I heard gunfire further down the tunnel. Supposedly some of the Paladins are still up further down but everyone is disorganized." Perry said as he gritted his teeth from the other member applying pressure on his chest wound.

"Just take it easy, I'll do what I can with what I can and secure the area. We're not dying trapped in these tunnels." I said as I stepped outside of the train. What I saw was a disaster the rest of the train looked like a junkyard, it was completely derailed and flames were ablaze everywhere. I could see shadows running through the aftermath White Fang and Grimm alike engaged in combat.

"Alright listen up!" I told the three remaining members who stood guard. "We are now in damage control. We are going to move down the tunnel combing through each and every train for any survivors, any that can fight will move with us as we our objective will be to set up a perimeter and the edge of the train. Any wounded will be brought to to our location and treated with any means we got. Once the perimeter is established we adjust from there. We don't have time to be thinking that far down the road so let's move!" I finished as the members simply nodded in response.

"Alright everyone on me!" I said as slowly started moving through the wreckage, Mortem in it's pistol form at the low-ready. I clambered over a couple of dust crates and looked ahead. It was quiet a little to quiet for a war zone. 'Hopefully anyone still out there has taken shelter and is trying to wait this out. We reached a train cabin that was thrown upside down and looked for an opening. "Cover me I'm going to check inside." I order as I shifted I raised my pistol, I fired three rounds and on the last round the locking mechanism gave out and I slid the door open. When I opened the door four panicking members had their rifles trained on me.

"Oh thank Oum!" One of the female faunus said out loud.

"Are any of you injured!?" I asked the group.

"Y-yeah... Marshall is hurt, h-he's been out since the crash." The same faunus said as she showed me the downed member.

"Okay two of you go and help get him to the front of the train. We got guards and a cover for the wounded. The other two come with us, we're setting up a perimeter and helping the wounded." I told the new group.

"Okay Jasmine and Mark go get Marshall to safety, Reggie and I got this." The boar faunus of the group said.

"Got it." Jasmine said as she and Mark carried their fallen brother.

"Alright let's go!" I said to the team of now five members. I took point as they followed me through the wreckage. I checked another door on the next cabin, as I pulled it open flames shot out. "Crap!" I yelled out as I fell on to my back. The cabin was ablaze inside and if there was survivors they have perished now.

"Sir are you okay!?" The member know as Reggie asked. I rolled over onto my stomach and pushed myself up I checked my gear. "Yeah I'm fine just got careless." I said as motioned for the group to keep moving forward.

We then heard gunfire just up ahead. "Everyone move! Double time!" I belted out to my group. As we cleared another cabin a small group of four members were firing at a pack of oncoming creeps. All they had was pistols so the creeps were using their numbers just to barrel through. One of the members fell to the ground as a creep jumped on top of him. I leaped from the train and as the creep went started to close my blade pierced it's cranium. I withdrew my blade and ran towards to oncoming horde. The first creep leaped at me as I faked left and as it closed in I spun to the right and out of the way. The next creep went to ram me with its head but I jumped high and came down with my blade and stabbed through the back of it's neck. The beast crumpled as it slowly started to turn into ash. The six remaining creeps now aware of the threat stopped their bull-rush and started to circle me.

"Who's first!" I yelled at the Grimm as I was waiting for them to make the first mistake. The creep to my front was the first to move as it charged me. I readied my blade for the killing blow and swung in a downwards stab, as my blade pierced it skull the sounds of half a dozen weapons took my attention as the group of Grimm around me fell. I looked up to see my group weapons still pointed at the creatures.

"EAT IT GRIMM!" One of the members yelled as he double tapped one the slower dissolving creeps.

"Thanks for the assist, but we still have a long way to go." I said as I shifted my estoc back into it's pistol. "Let's go." I finished as I again took the lead.

"You two check that cabin!" I told them as I pointed to a cabin that managed to stay upright. The three other members and myself covered them as they busted down the door. The went in and came out a couple seconds later with two more members.

"Got two sir!" Reggie yelled as he helped two faunus out of the train.

"Got it, you two!" I pointed to the newcomers. "Stick with us and fan out, the more survivors we find the more efficient we can cover ground." I finished as they nodded and fell into the small fire squad we acquired.

'This is taking too long, we have to find a way to clear out these Grimm faster.' I thought as continued to clear out damaged cabins. "Alright we have to speed this up! We need these Grimm cleared out yesterday. You all permission to fire at will, as you've seen from all the downed trains packed with spare dust we'll have more than enough for ammunition." I told the group of now seven soldiers.

All of a sudden a the sound of metal scraping and shearing caught our attention. We looked ahead to see a pile of train cabins slowly start to shift and buckle. "Everyone get on line and focus fire!" I said as the group spread out and trained their weapons on whatever monstrous Grimm was moving the trains. I holstered Mortem and reached to my back and shifted SnapShot from it's stored form and chambered a round of Burn dust and took aim. The train cabins were slowly creaking as they still were moving. Suddenly they were thrown towards us as we dove for cover. I landed on my stomach and looked up to see the offender as the debris was clearing. "Well dust be damned..." I said letting out a breathe as two damaged but operational Paladins stood from the epicenter of the cabins. I looked to my left and right to see if everyone was okay.

"By Oum we a have a chance now!" One of members enthusiastically yelled. We closed the distance to the Paladins as the pilots saw us an opened the canopy.

"What's going on? One second I'm forcibly blown off the train the next second I'm smothered by it!" The pilot questioned.

"We hit the wall connecting the tunnel to Vale, for whatever reason the wall has been resealed and now our only choice is to go back and regroup at Mountain Glenn. With you two the last part will be a hell of a lot easier. What's the damage on your mechs?" I asked the pilots.

"The shoulder missiles are disabled on my suit, as well as the proximity radar. I'm basically down to eye sight on this machine." The first pilot said.

"My arms are jammed from shifting into the gun-systems, but I have front radar scanning. My missiles are still good to go." The second pilot said as he was still running system checks.

"Alright I want you on point then, you can the targets before we can and we'll engage them before they can get close to you. Alright you five move up with the Paladins and help secure the area, Reggie your coming with me to comb through the cabins."

"Got it." The faunus said as he ran to my side. We clambered through the destruction as we neared another train car. I took aim as he stood to the side of the door grasping the handle, he looked to me and I nodded before he pulled the door open. I stepped in and focused on the right of the cabin with my rifle ready as Reggie took the left side. A Beowolf caught off guard turned and ran towards me. I pulled the trigger four times, each round hitting its mark as the Beowolf was thrown into the wall and began to dissolve. I heard several bursts of gunfire behind me and as my side was clear I turned around to see two dissolving creeps.

"Right clear!" I called out.

"Left clear!" Reggie followed suit.

"S-slate?" I heard a voice call out from the left side of the cabin. A couple of crates shifted as someone stepped out from behind them.

"Reign?" I asked to as she ran up to me and pulled me into and embrace.

"Oh thank OUM! I thought I was done dead." She said trying to hold back tears, her masked was broken laying in pieces on the floor.

"What happened?" I asked Purpura.

"W-we headed out to stop those huntsman that were attacking the train. I-I was knocked back into the train by one of them and the next thing I know the train collided with something and I was knocked. My weapon was knocked from me when I felt back into the train and when I woke up I hear growls, I didn't have anything to defend myself and I ran behind these crates and hid. If you two didn't show up when you did I-I.."

"It's okay we here now, but we're not done yet. There's likely others that need help too and we have to keep moving. Are you okay to fight?" I asked her.

"Y-yeah but I don't have a weapon." She replied.

"Here take mine, it's based of some older Atlesian rifles. You remember what I showed you from our recon?" I asked as she nodded.

"Are you sure?" She questioned in return.

"Yeah I trust you, you're a good shot. Here take my mags." I said as I opened up my pockets and handed here my 5 remaining magazines. "You got sixteen left in magazine currently, and each holds twenty. You ready?"

"Yeah let's do this!" She said with a change of demeanor as she fell in behind Reggie and I. We stepped out as we heard the Paladins opening fire, we looked into the distance to see the oncoming pack of Grimm being ripped to shreds by the missile volleys and energy blasts from the mechs. 'We'll have no problem holding the line now, we still need personnel though.' A group of six white fang members hurried past as as three of them were aiding the other three back to the front of the train. 'Speak of the devil.'

"Alright on me." I said as drew my pistol and took point with Reign to my right and Reggie on my left.

"Boarbatusk nine o'clock!" Shouted Reggie as I took a knee and allowed Reign to fire over me. We all opened fire on the Grimm but my pistol and Reggie's rifle had little effect as the round were deflected by it's armor. Reign opened fire with Snapshot and the explosive rounds of the Burn dust caused the Grimm to stumble as it tried to approach us.

"Purpura keep it suppressed! Reggie break left and I'll flank right!" I yelled as ran to left of the Grimm, Purpura still firing keeping the beast from gaining any momentum. I hopped over some rubble and I began to fire at the Grimm's unprotected side, after five rounds the Grimm fell to it's stomach and went still, disintegrating shortly after. I heard footsteps behind and turned around to see an Ursa swinging it's giant paw. I fell to my back and felt its claws scrape against the front pouches of my vest. I aimed my pistol and fired the remaining ten rounds into the face of the Ursa major, the rounds mostly annoyed but they did their purpose in buying me some breathing room as I rolled backwards to my feet and dove once more to the right. I switched to my estoc and as I was clear from friendly fire Reign and Reggie opened fire on the bear Grimm. Their combined fire overwhelmed the Grimm and left it weak it leaning heavily on its arms. From my crouch I ran towards the Grimm with my blade drawn, it threw a weak claw but jumped over it and landed on the beast back, avoiding its armored spine. I thrust my blade into the back of the Grimm's neck and it finally keeled over with a small groan.

I jumped off the Grimm and walked towards my two team members, I shifted Mortem back into it's pistol and dropped the magazine and inserted a fresh one. "Alright we're almost near the edge of the train wreckage, most of the Grimm should be cleared out but keep your head on a swivel, we didn't get this far to blow it."

 _'I made a mistake.'_

Neo's words echoed in my mind as we continued clearing the cabins. 'I hope she's got out of this okay, it seemed she got out of here before the train hit but there's always the nagging feeling that something happened. Forget it, get out of here first, worry later. That's what she'd tell me, keep your emotions in check when in battle.' I thought as I took in a deep breathe and let it out.

The sound of gunfire coming from the mechs once again filled the air, we kept moving forward as just two salvageable train cabins remained, the rest being too torn apart to support life. We past one of the wrecked cabins when I hear something from the debris shuffle.

"Slate..." I heard a weak voice call from the debris as I saw Bane under it.

"Hey help me out you two!" I yelled as I tried to push off a large piece of concrete slab pinning him under. The two ran beside me as we flipped the piece of debris off Bane only for our jaw to drop at the scene.

Four pieces of rebar ran through his chest leaving him impaled to the ground, blood was still flowing from his wounds as he laid still not to cause anymore pain. "Bane..."

"I know..." He said weakly as he removed his mask revealing a heavily scarred face. He looked like he was in his late twenties from what I could tell, one of his scars ran through his left eye, leaving it white and likely blinded. Blood ran from the short black stubble of his forehead. "My time has come, it's your time now. I looked down at you when I first met you due to you being a human. But time and time again you fought for our cause, throwing yourself into the fray for our people. It has given me hope, that maybe one day our people can finally coexist. Do whatever it takes to lead our people to that peace." He said between breathes as he started to cough up blood.

"For a better tomorrow." I said as he reached into a pocket in one of his legs and pulled out a set of ID tags and a picture." Here he said as he weakly handed me the belongings. "Give this to my son Natus, he lives in the city of Old Guard in Mantle with his Uncle. The address is on the back, t-tell him I'm sorry, that his Mother and I loved him very much..." He choked out as his arm went limp.

"Bane! BANE!" I yelled as I shook him, trying to delay the inevitable. It was too late though, another comrade of mine was gone. I looked to the picture and saw a younger Bane, scars at this time not present, with his wife. A short canine faunus as black canine ears drooped over her long jet-black hair, her hair blocking her azul eyes. In her pale arms was a small child no older than four. He had blue eyes and short black hair and tanned complexion like his father. My other hand was clenched to the point of nearly drawing blood as I placed his picture into my vest pocket and looked to his ID tags.

 **'Bane Bellum'**

"Slate we have to keep moving." I heard Reign say as she grabbed my shoulder. I nodded and stood up pocketed his tags as well. We continued moving towards the last two train cabins only to discover they were empty. As we cleared the final cabin we ran towards to Paladins who were on guard, watching down the tunnel.

"Status report." I said as I reached the group of now eight members and two Paladins.

"Having seen anything in the last ten minutes or so sir. Just on cleanup duty now, nothing we can't handle." One of the members ran up to me explaining the situation.

"Alright now we have to focus on getting out of here. It's at least 15 miles straight shot back to Mountain Glenn. While we were clearing the cabins I noticed one of the cabins was still upright and on the tracks, everyone one foot is going to head back and help get the wounded into that cabin. Once everyone is secured into the cabin I want the Paladins to clear out any debris separating that cabin from Mountain Glenn. Just knock it off the tracks and out of the way. We'll lock the gears into neutral and one of the mechs will push it back towards Mountain Glenn while the other takes the lead and covers us. It's going to be time consuming but this is the only way the wounded will be able to make it back. Any questions? Good let's get to work."

* * *

After about an hour we handed everyone loaded onto the cabin and we were rolling slowly but surely towards Mountain Glenn. "Nothing on radar." The lead pilot Brick called out over his mech's loud speaker.

I looked over the wounded as they were being treated by one of our White Fang members who luckily was one our combat medics. He was currently removing a bandage on Perry's chest and replacing it with a clean one. After he finished treating Perry he walked over to the wall a let a sigh. "How are they doing?" I asked as the boar faunus looked up sweat pouring down his face.

"They're all stable, once we get back topside I can actually fully treat them. But for now they'll make it." He said as he looked over the wounded.

"Glad to hear, keep up the good work." I said as I walked over and took a seat next to Purpura who was doing her best to stay awake as her head bobbed downwards every few seconds.

We sat silently as we let the realization of today hit us. "26." I said out loud.

"What?" She asked as she looked up at me.

"26. That's how many of us made it. A whole division of 217." I said as looked ahead. "And now 26."

"Was this worth it?" She questioned herself as much as me. She looked up to me expecting an answer. But this wasn't an answer I had. 'Was it worth the lives of nearly 200 hundred of our brothers and sister? What had we really accomplished besides causing more chaos. Sure now we would be taken as a true threat but at what cost? If this was the way to coexistence then I don't know if I can take part in this anymore.'

"It's never worth it, nothing is ever worth losing the lives of our own. Everyone always wants to be the hero but they forget about the ones that fall before that hero ever gets their chance to claim glory. So is it worth it, my answer is no. We made ground today but this loss is far to significant to warrant a celebration or victory."

"So what do we do now?" She asked.

"Go home, spend time with your loved one's. Their is 191 of us that will never get that opportunity again. After that do what you think is best. Continue with the White Fang or go your own way." I said as I stood up and looked over our wounded.

"I have no home to go to Dezmond. Why do you think I'm with the Fang in the first place. My home was taken from me by the Grimm. I lived in a small town just on the border of Mantle. We were attacked by the Grimm in broad daylight. No help or relief was sent for us by the Kingdoms, so when the White Fang showed up I took their offer and joined. That was almost ten years ago, almost ten years since I've last seen my family. So wherever you go, I'll go. You saved me and I won't even think about leaving until I return that favor." Purpura said as she stood up with her arms crossed in defiance.

"Then let's go." I said holding my hand as she took it and shook.

"For a better tomorrow." She replied.

* * *

 **AN: And finally I got the time to finish this chapter. I hate leaving everyone on a cliffhanger for so long as I intended to get this chapter out much earlier, but work left me with zero time to write this week. Finally I've wrapped up Volume Two, this time at the beaten side's perspective. Some would call that day a success but others weren't so lucky. There will be a bit of aftermath to clear up the following chapters as I felt like Volume Three glassed over that a bit in order to get to the Vytal Festival they were teasing for so long. (Can't really blame them for that.) I look forward to writing the Third and Final Arc of this fic. Until then -MidKnight209**


	26. Chapter 26: Departure

I drifted between the realm of reality and unconsciousness as we rode the slow moving train back towards Mountain Glenn. My eyelids fluttered open as one particular bump disturbed me from my rest. I looked to my left and many of my fellow Fang members had the same idea as me and were fast asleep. I heard a small groan as a weight to my right started shifting. I looked to see Purpura leaning against me asleep, stirring a bit from the small disturbance. I leaned back into my seat letting the back of my head support itself against the wall. I tried to close my eyes but they snapped back open as if my body was telling me it has had enough rest.

I slowly stood up keeping and arm on Purpura in order not to wake her, as I stood up a gently laid her into the seat. After a moment of shuffling she soon stopped and fell back asleep. I ran a hand on the side of my head and popped my neck to left then right, I walked to door of the cabin and slide it open taking a look outside. I ran my hand through one of the ladder rungs on the side of the cabin and pulled myself up to the top. I overlooked the pathway in front of us, the Paladin continued to scan the area but it looks like either the Grimm had given up in their attacks or they were simply wiped out during the Breach of Vale. Either way the only good Grimm is a dead Grimm, so the less the made contact with the better. I pulled out a radio that was scavenged from the train and clicked the mic. "This is Red One what's the status Lead Paladin?"

"Got nothing on radar sir, we should be about two clicks away from our destination." The lead pilot said as continued to scan the area for any threats.

"Good copy, Red One out." I said over the radio before I put it away. I made my way back into the cabin and walked to the center of it.

"Alright everyone listen up!" I said to the room, as the members that were asleep slowly woke up, shaking awake the members that slept through my call out. "I know everyone here is exhausted, injured, downright demoralized. But we are two clicks away from our encampment in Mountain Glenn. I need you all fully operational by the time we get there, we still not out of this yet. There may be Grimm that gathered in our absence due to the commotion created so we need everyone good to go. Now here's the mission. Once we enter the encampment I want half the strike team to come with me in order to fully secure the camp. Once and only once the camp is secured the second half of the strike team will support the wounded. Once we get topside I will ensure we have a ride out. As for the destination, we have a small warehouse near the edge of Forever Fall we have hidden away just in-case this kind of disaster were to take place. Once we reach the base we will debrief before further orders are issued. Any questions?" I asked the group as they shook their head, most of them eager to finally get some quality rest. "Alright good, we have an ETA of twenty minutes until we reach Mountain Glenn so have your munitions and belongings ready." I said as I made may way over to Purpura.

"So what's the plan for once we reach Forever Fall?" She asked.

"Contact higher up, we need to reach out to the leaders of the White Fang and consult with them on what our next move should be. When that happens they'll figure the best cause you to join." I said as I began to walk out the cabin once more to watch over the finale stretch. I was stopped when a hand grabbed my shoulder and tugged.

"What do you mean cause for you to join!? Are... are you leaving?" She asked with a look of confusion.

"Come on, let's talk outside." I said as I helped up the ladder and onto the top of the cabin. A ran a hand through my hair and sighed as I tried to think of the best way to tell her.

"Why?" Purpura interrupted me as I turned around to face her.

"Because what were doing is wrong. And no before you ask I don't mean the White Fang in particular, I understand their reasoning as to why we fight this cause. I would rather fight and die on my feet then live the rest of my life on my knees, and that the faunus in the White Fang embrace that ideology is honorable. But we're being misled don't you see that Purpura! We're not acting towards a cause that benefits the faunus, hundreds of us we're just sacrificed to send some sort of point. The only point that we accomplished today is that we're no better than the Grimm. That were just fanatics that will blindly throw our lives away for a cause. I won't be part of an organization that just uses us as pawns. That woman, Cinder Fall she's using us for our numbers, and as long as she is misleading our seniors we will continue being lambs lead to the slaughter." I explained as she never took her eyes off me, the truth hitting her like a ton of bricks.

"But.. why? Why would they do that!?" She practically yelled. "That doesn't make any sense? This organization was started by the faunus to look after our people, to fight for our rights. And what your saying goes against everything we're fighting for. I can't believe you... I d-dont want to believe you." She argued cradling herself as a way to hide from the pain. But she deserved to know this truth, I wouldn't let her be one of the sheeple. I'd let her know and make her own decision based on the truth.

"Purpura" I said as I walked up to her and placed both of my hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at me. "I can't be a part of this, I'm only telling you this because I want you to know the truth, I'll hold no resent towards anyone who continues fighting for the White Fang, your soldiers just carrying out orders. But once we reach the safe house in Vale I'm leaving to fulfill my promise to Bane, but after that I'm gone." I told her.

"Where are you going to do?" She asked, her voice devoid of any emotion.

"To fix this mess I've gotten myself into. I don't know how I'm going to do it, or where I'm going to start but I have to do it now. I've dug myself into deep enough of a grave, it's time to start crawling my way out." I said as I looked towards the tracks, the encampment slowly coming into sight.

"Then...T-then I'm coming with you."

"What?" I questioned.

"You heard me." She started, "I'm coming with you. I don't have a home to go back to, and I'm not going to end up like our brothers and sisters who perished for a meaningless cause. I'll say it again, I'm coming with you. This idea of yours, it's honorable but do you honestly think you can pull it off alone?" She explained.

"I..."

"Exactly, you were going do exactly what the Fang was doing, blindly throwing yourself into a cause. I'll be your voice of reason, somethings in life can be done alone, but that doesn't mean that have to be. Stop putting everything on your shoulders, and rely on someone else for once." She said as she pushed me back.

"You're right. I've always put the blame on myself when something went wrong, even if I had nothing to do with the outcome. I always felt like it was my fault, that I could've done more, that I could've changed the outcome." I took in a deep breathe and exhaled as I stuck out my hand for her to shake. "You sure you want to be part of this, I can't promise your safety Purpura."

"I'm sure." Purpura said in a resolved tone as she took my hand and shook it.

* * *

As we reached our destination I took the lead on departing the train. I jumped off and started to meticulously comb through the encampment, Purpura was at my side as we checked the path leading back to the surface.

"It's quiet..." Purpura said as we rounded another building, that avenue clear of Grimm as well.

"Yeah we might have lucked out for once." I replied as I scanned the area with my pistol. "Alright let's keep going, only a couple more pathways to check." I finished.

After another few minutes we cleared the final pathway leading to the building connecting us to the surface. I pulled up my headset and keyed the mic. "We're are clear here, move the Paladins up first. Reign and I are going to recon the surface before we start moving the wounded up. Rally point is the burger joint, Red One out." I said as I opened the door leading to the lift. It was a pulley system powered by a couple of dust powered generators we set up. The room was large enough to move four Paladins at a time so we'd be able to move everyone up at once when we secured the surface. As Purpura stepped in I closed the door and engaged the lift. It slowly but surely started pulling us to the surface.

"You think there's any of them left up there?" She asked as she rolled her shoulders, preparing herself for any potential conflict.

"There's a good chance, even if there are any Grimm it's nothing us and our Paladins can't handle. Probably just stragglers who were drawn from the commotion from earlier." I replied as the lift reached its apex. I took a firm grip of my pistol with my right hand and keyed the button to open the bay door of the building with my left. I looked to Purpura as she looked at me and we exchanged a nod. I engaged the button and the door slid open as we ran out. I overlooked the left side as she covered the right.

A small group of three young beowolves turned their heads in our direction as they were startled by our interruption. Our weapons came to life as we opened fire onto the small pack. After three rounds the beowolf to left fell, Purpura dropped the remaining beowolves by delivering a pair or rounds to each of their chests. The Grimm fell and remained still as were checked the surrounding area for any more hostiles.

"Clear!" I said after a few moments of silence. "Alright you remember our over watch position?" I asked Purpura, which she replied with a nod. "That's our objective."

We quietly moved throughout the abandoned town, check each every corner we passed to ensure we didn't leave any Grimm to ambush our fellow members. I soon spotted the building in question and looked around the building until I found a marked piece of rubble. I got down one knee and flipped piece of concrete over revealing a bag with the stashed rappelling latches necessary to easily climb the building. I pulled the hooks from the bags and attached them to the still hanging rappel line. "Alright I'll go first." I said as attached myself to the line a started to ascend the building. I soon reached the top and stood over in order to watch over her ascent. I she neared the top I reached over the edge and lent her a hand to help pull her up. She dropped the gear and started to scan over the area with SnapShot. "Anything?" I asked as I peered over her shoulder.

"No, it looks like we're good." She replied looking over the ruins.

"Alright all call it up." I said as I pulled out my transceiver once more. "All forces this is Red One, we are all clear! How copy?" I said as my radio started to pick up their signal.

"We read you Red One, moving now." The pilot replied.

"Good copy, Red One out." I said as I re-secured the radio. Alright let's go Purpura." I said as I attached myself to the rappel line once more.

Once we reached the bottom we made our way to the rally point. By now the two Paladins were standing guard in front of the burger joint. "Alright is everyone accounted for!?" I said out loud as I walked into the building.

"Yes sir." Reggie replied, it looked like he was taking the job of acting commander.

"Alright everyone just bog down for now, I'm going to call up and secure our evac. Just a little longer brothers." I reassured the group as stepped outside of the building. I walked up the Paladin with the still working comms and got his attention. The pilot opened up and the faunus stepped out.

"What did you need sir?" The redheaded cat faunus asked.

"I need to use that mech briefly, I'm going to tap into the mechs long range communicators and call for evac. This wasteland is subduing our signal here and that;s our best bet to reach out pilots out there." I explained to the faunus who nodded and stepped aside. I stepped into the mech and closed the hull and began to look over its holographic interface. 'Okay, where is it? where is it? Settings? No... Radar, okay I'll check there. There we go communications. Long-range.

 **INACTIVE.**

I pressed the 'button' on the screen and several options came up.

 **ACTIVE.**

 **EMERGENCY DISTRESS SIGNAL. FREQUENCY. COMM CHANNEL.**

I keyed the frequency and entered the signal we hat set up, after that I entered the correct comm channel. 'Alright here goes nothing.'

"Any stations this net, any stations this net this is Red One do you read me?" I called out before I heard static replying to me.

 **SIGNAL ACQUIRED, LOCKING.**

The interface read before I tried calling again. "I say again, this is Red One, does anybody copy?"

"Red One this is Raven One we read you what's your status." The bullhead pilot called out.

"Thank Oum, this is Red One we have several wounded who need evac asap. We have 26 soldiers in total. We are located half-a-click east of the insertion point of Mountain Glenn. We can create a signal if necessary."

"Roger that sir, Ravens 1-5 are now en route to your location. ETA 20 mikes. How copy over?" Raven One said over the radio.

"That's damn good news, we'll be awaiting your arrival. Red One out." I said as I then opened the hatch of the Paladin. "She's all yours, prepare for evac in twenty." I said to the pilot as I walked past him and towards the restaurant.

"Alright everyone evac will be here in twenty mikes. We're almost out of this." I told the group.

"Sir what's the plan now? Now that we've made it out, what's the next step?" Reggie asked as some of the other members mingled amidst each other, mainly agreeing.

"Go home." I stated flatly.

"What?" One of them asked confused.

"You heard me. Go home, get some rest. If you have any loved ones spend sometime with them. Then you can return to the field if you like. A lot of your brothers and sisters had that luxury stolen from them. After we land in Forever Fall I am no longer your commanding officer. Report to higher up if you want to continue this fight, but I won't be part of this endless bloodshed." I said as I stepped out of the building, murmurs and whispers started between the members as they were confused on what step to take next, as they should be. I climbed to the roof and looked over the surrounding area as I let my feet dangle of the side. I heard motion behind me but I already knew who it was. "They hate me don't they, for just giving up on this cause." I said to Purpura as she sat beside me and looked over the wasteland that was named Mountain Glenn.

"No... They're just confused, they don't know where to go from here Slate." She explained, the both of us still looking out towards the city.

"Dezmond, just call me Dezmond. Were not on a mission anymore, and your a friend in my books."

"Thanks Dezmond." She said as she turned to face me with a small smile.

* * *

 **Three days later. City of Old Guard, Kingdom of Atlas(Once Mantle).**

"Never thought I'd be heading back to Atlas so quickly. I understand why Bane would want to be part of the White Fang, there's a lot of resentment towards the Faunus here." I told Purpura as she continued to look around the landscape. It was a very mountainous town, located to the far north of the continent, a couple miles north and we'd be able to see the shoreline connecting us to the Northern Sea of Atlas.

"This is my first time seeing Atlas, I just wish it could've been on better terms." Purpura said with a frown. It was good being back in my home Kingdom as the weather always seemed to be stuck perpetually in Autumn. A small breeze greeted us as we continued to navigate the landscape of this hilly village. But the reality of our situation overtook me once more as a frown overtook my face. We had to deliver a message to Bane's only child, Natus. I'd have to be the one to tell him that his father and only remaining parent had fallen in battle. 'Where do I even start? How do you tell someone they'd never see their parents again.' I mean I guess I never had to worry about that, my parents never truly cared for me and joining a huntsman academy was the quickest way out of the house. I practically all but ran out in the middle of the night to enlist the day I turned 17. Hard to believe that was almost two years ago, crazy how much can change in just two years. From a hostile environment to Huntsman to Terrorist Organization to own my own once more, life's a cruel mistress.

But that was enough self-reflection for now, it was time to focus on the matter at hand as I walked up the address written on the back of the picture Bane gave me. "Hey Purpura I'll handle this." I said as I turned to her.

"What did I say about trying to handle everything yourself, I didn't come here just to let you do this all by yourself after all." She told me as she knocked on the door.

"I got it uncle!" I heard a kid yell out from the other side of the door, his footsteps approaching. The door opened up and it felt as thought the wind was knocked out of me as looked to Bane's son opening the door. He was almost a carbon copy of his father, from his hair to his tan skin, the only thing separating them was his dark blue eyes he inherited from his mother. "Can I help you?" Natus asked.

"Yes, is your uncle here? We're friends of his and Bane." I explained as neutrally as possible.

"Yeah one second." Natus ran off while he called for his uncle. After a few moments a man in his late thirties appeared. He had disheveled brown hair and a pair of canine ears poked through the hair.

"Can I help you two." The man asked looking back and forth between us.

"Sir can we speak outside." Purpura spoke up as the man looked confused.

"What is this about?" The man asked a bit worried.

"Please sir we'll explain everything." She stated once more. The man nodded and we walked to a nearby tree around the corner of the house.

"So what's this about?" The man asked again with a clear sense of worry in his voice.

I took a deep breath in an let out a sigh as I readied myself. "Sir Bane Bellum passed away in battle. We were two of his comrades, there was an accident and we couldn't save him. He asked us to tell you this personally." I said to the man as the news hit him like a hurricane. His was drawn to the ground, tears falling freely.

"That idiot, deep down I always knew this day would come, I just kept holding onto hope that my idiot little brother would wise up and just come home. But ever since Cherrie was killed the brother I knew died too. He was just so damn focused in on revenge that he couldn't realize what he'd be leaving behind." The man now known as Bane's older brother said as he threw his fist into the tree, a small hole now present in it.

"I'm sorry, he never told us about having a family." Purpura said as she tried to comfort the man, placing a hand on his back. The man head still hung as the tears continued to flow.

"Sounds like Bane, the mission always come first for him." He said as he started to walk back towards the house before turning around. "Thank you for coming here, it means a lot that someone came here to let me know. Know if you'd excuse me and need to figure out how to break this to Natus." He said as he stepped back into his house.

Purpura and I remained standing there for a bit longer before we started walking back towards the air station. As we walked away I swear I could hear the cries of his son in the distance. We continued the walk in silence as we didn't know what else to say, after about a mile of walking I broke the silence. "This why we are going to stop that women Purpura, so we can prevent heartbreaks like that, so another son doesn't have to continue his life an orphan."

"Where do we start?" She said in a firm, almost vengeful tone.

"Where we left off. Vale."

* * *

 **AN: Had a lot of trouble writing that chapter, didn't want it to feel to rushed but after some small revisions I knocked that chapter out. Now begins the cold war that was Volume Three, how will Dezmond be able to stop Cinder without having a full understanding of what Cinder's goal are. Stay tuned to find out. -MidKnight209**


	27. Chapter 27: A New Beginning

**Team RWBY**

 **Beacon Academy** , **evening after Breach of Vale**

"Well... we did it." Yang said to the group as we now gathered at the edge of the air pad near the front of the campus of Beacon. 'It was a long night -err well... day as we didn't wrap up the fighting until the following afternoon. I was ever so thankful that my teammates had my back and were able to find me, who knew what would of happened they didn't find me so quickly. Stop it Ruby, there your teammates of course they'd have my back.'

"We did it." Blake says showing a trace of happiness.

"If we don't get extra credit for that, I'm gonna be seriously disappointed." Weiss follows up to Blake sounding a bit annoyed.

"Weiss, a two-headed snake literally crushed a bakery. I wouldn't count on it." Yang replies to Weiss, which causes my partner to roll her eyes and eventually agree.

"Plus, I mean... we didn't solve everything. A lot of people were hurt, and we still don't even know why they did this. Who that mystery girl was, not even including what happened to everyone back there. I mean Dezmond was back there with rest of the White Fang, and no one besides Roman made it out of the breach. I mean does that mean he's..." I asked to rest of the group as Blake and Yang simply looked down as to avoid the question. Weiss simply stiffened when I mentioned his name.

"R-ruby, I don't understand why you still have faith in him. He's one of the enemies Ruby, when we tried to stop the train he and I fought. He literally tried to pull the air from my lungs, were it for my semblance he could of killed me."

"He w-wouldn't do that though.. right? right?" I asked the remaining to members of Team RWBY. After letting out a sigh Blake finally answered.

"R-ruby, even if you did still have some hope in him the fact of the matter is no one made out of those tunnels. Even if the White Fang survived the collision who know how many Grimm were on the other side." Blake said.

"He's gone sis." Yang said somberly as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"I-I..." I started as but couldn't finish as I began to tremble. "Its just that I did everything I could to try to convince him to change, he just was so stuck in his mindset. I so badly wanted him to change his ways." I said holding back any tears.

"Don't put this on yourself Ruby, its not just him. The White Fang is general is misguided, they're so stuck in their mindset that if they were to give up on it now, they'd have nowhere to turn. For some of them it's all they've got." Blake reasoned with me.

"So what now?" My sister asked.

"I suggest training for the tournament, but I guess we have that covered at this point." Weiss answered.

"So then...?" Blake started

"Uh.. time for bed?" I said which everyone happily agreed with. 'We may not have all the answers but for our first mission as huntresses in training I'd say we passed with flying colors. Tomorrow is another day, and if the baddies want to show their face once more you bet Team RWBY will be there to stop them.'

* * *

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

 **Vale outskirts, One week after the Breach of Vale**

"So what's the first order of business Dez?" Purpura asked me as we stepped off the airship located on the edge of Vale. I looked at the setting sun as we began our trip into Vale.

"Well first thing's first, we need to find a place to stay for the night. Once we have shelter I'll go over the rest of the plan okay?" I asked her in which she simply nodded. Thankfully I stockpiled some of my saving from the dust robberies. Not to mention some of the leftover dust from the breach, we'd taken what we could after the collision. After all I couldn't let my brothers go completely empty-handed after that disaster. Needless to say Purpura and I would be covered for a little while, worst case scenario I could always try to take a bounty for lien, but much more likely just set a small-stage robbery.

After walking a few block we found a small inn near the edge of Vale. I held the door open for Purpura as we both walked in and examined the inn.

"Hello how may I help you?" One of the workers behind the counter asked.

"Yeah can we get a room for the night?' I asked the worker.

"No problem, we have ground and second floor available."

"Ground floor is good." I replied.

"Alright room it's room 107, that will be 25,000 lien please." The worker said as I took out the correct amount of lien cards and laid them on the counter. I handed Purpura the room key and told her to go ahead as handled the paperwork. She nodded and headed towards the room as I finished paying.

As I finished I began the walk to the room, I spotted the door open and Purpura stood in the entrance. "Hey is something wrong?" I asked as I walked in.

"Uh..w-well t-there's only one bed." She said as her face was a bit red.

"I mean I can always sleep on the -ohhhhhh." I cut myself off as I realized what the situation was. 'The worker totally thought we were sharing a bed. "Sorry about that Purpura." I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder. "You got the bed, I'll be plenty fine on the recliner. Sure beats sleeping on the cots."

"Yeah, okay." She said as she threw her on the bag on the bed. "So what are going to do now Dez?" She asked once more, clearly worried on how we going to take this Cinder woman down.

"There's no easy way around it, there are two ways we can do this. Plan A is we use the attack on Vale to basically fake our deaths. By doing this we can stay off the radar and wait for the right time to interfere with her plans. The problem is we don't know what she fully capable of and what her end game is. So basically when we reveal ourselves we have to hit with everything we've got, a full-frontal strike. There are obviously downsides to this plan, one being that any connections we could've used before are out the window, we obviously want to keep as concealed as possible and that could be a loose end. Two if we get found out early on it will be near impossible to pull this off."

"What's the other way?" Purpura asked as she mulled over the first plan.

"Well Plan B has to do with the contacts I've made in the past. We basically would take this information we know to a couple of huntsman I've ran into in the past. We'd essentially be working with them in order to take them down. The problem with this is one they may not ever want to work with me again and two they'd be throwing themselves into the hornets next if they accepted." I said as she continued to think them over. "Well what do you think Purp?"

"Well why don't we do a combination of the two? Like we can stay under the radar as best as we can, and while doing so we can feed the information we gather straight to them. We basically be the recon to this joint effort, the only thing is why wouldn't they want to work with you?" She asked, not knowing who Team RWBY was.

"Well you know those huntresses and huntsman that assaulted our train?" I asked hesitently.

"Yeah why? Wait!? Why do you know them!? Were you helping them!?" Purpura shouted as she stood up and pointed a finger into my chest.

"NO! I broke ties with them before the robbery on the Docks all those months ago. I know it's hard to believe but it was just a real bad case of coincidence." I explained as she let out a sigh and turned around.

"So what happens of we go to them and turn you down?" She said with a bit of anger.

"Then we have no choice but to go with plan A. If they know our intentions then they'd have no reason to interfere with us, it would only hurt them." I said.

"Fine, I don't like it but this woman has to pay for how she's manipulating our kind." Purpura said as she stuck out her hand. I gladly took it and shook.

"We got this Purpura, you and me, we'll stop her." I said as she began to smile.

"Yeah, you and me."

 **Vale, Unknown Location**

I checked opened the breast pocket and checked my scroll for what must of been the hundredth time today.

 _No new messages_

I let out a sigh as it's been over a week since the attack on Vale and I still haven't heard from Dezmond. There's no way that attack led to his death, I trained him way too hard to let something like that take him out. But then it came again, that nagging feeling that was ever so persistent throughout the week.

 _'He's gone, just like your old team. Anyone you get close to dies, that's all you'll ever be good for Neo. Death.'_ The voices in my head spoke to me, they were always present since the day my team fell in battle. At first I'd rejected them, did anything to get them to stop. For a while it worked and they let me be, then it was a year later they returned louder then ever. That's when I tried to embrace them. I became a ruthless cold-blooded mercenary, I never gave a second thought to pulling the trigger, to piercing the flesh, taking a life. Once more the voices stopped, it was months before I realized why. It's because they didn't stop, they became one with my own conscience. I no longer heard them because that's how I truly thought, I became an ambassador of death. I killed whoever and whatever as long as the pay was good enough.

'Who would of thought a no-good crime boss would've been the one to save me from that downfall.' Roman was the one who taught me that that mindset was all wrong. That if I didn't change soon I'd end up another unmarked gravestone forgotten by Remnant. He said that I needed to find some sort of purpose or I'd forever just wander this world until eventually fell.

"That's no life to live kid. You have way too much talent to just to lend it to the highest bidder. Let me tell you what, how about you work for me, I've got a small ring running now but with you I know it will take off. And I know what your thinking 'what do I get out of this?' I'll tell you kid for one you'll never have to worry about living from job-to-job. And two, well kid throwing the Police and Huntsman academies for a loop is the most fun I have had since I was young child. I mean if they told you how much fun it could be being the bad guy no one would ever want to be the good guy. Sure there's the downsides but looking at the bank half empty never got anyone anywhere. So what do you say Neapolitan?" The speech from Roman rattled my head once more as I focused on the now.

The voices didn't reappear once I joined Roman, and honestly he was right, it was fun. To hell with being a huntsman, I just wanted to enjoy life once more. And if that meant I had to be the bad guy then so be it. It was just unfortunate that I decided to take someone under my wing, someone who had the same look on my face all those years ago. Someone who needed help like I did. Someone who would never see again. I can't help but to think to was fate showing its twisted face, getting revenge for what I did to those people. Leaving him now the unmarked tombstone. But to hell with that, F*** fate. I wouldn't believe in that until I've seen his grave. I won't give up in him, maybe he's still out there doing his own thing, maybe he has moved on.

As long as he doesn't end up the monster I once was, I'll be happy.

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone, bit of shorter chapter here. Works really bogged me down this week and wanted to get something out, planned for this chapter to be a bit longer but I decided it would be easier to break it up into two parts. Wanted to get this chapter out to give everyone and idea of what's to come, of course it won't be that clear cut (nothing ever is). Hopefully my next update will come much sooner. Until then -MidKnight209**


	28. Chapter 28: From Ashes

**Kingdom of Vale**

My eyes slowly opened as I woke up from a good night's rest. 'Who know how many of those I'll get in the future, I'll make sure not to take them from granted for now. Hell I'll take a recliner over a cot any day.' I thought as stood up from my chair and stretched out a bit. I looked over to Purpura and saw that she was still fast asleep in bed, lightly snoring. I quietly made my way to the bathroom, grabbing a towel and a set of clothes to change into. I took a quick shower and shaved, taking no longer than two minutes, a tendency drilled into me from Atlas's Huntsman Academy. I stepped out of the bathroom and relaxed once more into the recliner as I took out my scroll and began to scroll through my contacts.

Purpura began to stir a bit from her bed but she ended up just rolling over and stayed asleep. I was honestly glad that she decided to join me in this mission. Someone having my back during this operation I was going to spearhead would make a huge difference. Me lone-wolfing it had a lot of cons, the most important one being if I failed all the information I had and would collect would go with me.

'Purpura and I are going to have to establish new aliases now as well.' Cinder personally met with me and she'd definitely recognize me if I was spotted, and if the White Fang became involved again we both be outed. I'd have to figure out some sort of gear that would help us stay on the down-low. 'Maybe if I go early enough I'd be able to check out some of the shops here, yeah that's it I'll go on a weekday as early as possible and we can snag some gear.

"Ugh what time is it?" Purpura asked groggily as she woke up.

"0530. Sorry if I woke you, just trying to set up a game plan." I said as she slowly got up in a sitting position near the edge of the bed, still rubbing her eyes.

"It's fine, just been a while since I've slept on a bed. It was nice." She started as she threw an a grey hoodie. "So what were you planning?"

"Well there's a lot to go over actually, so I'll start one a time." I replied.

"Okay let me hear it." She stated.

"Well first thing we need a new look, we'd be recognized in our White Fang gear so we need to get some gear that not only differentiates us from the Fang but also masks our identities. Cinder knows what I look like so I can't risk anything when it comes to her. So my plan was to head out as soon as some shops in Vale open up and acquire some new gear, there's a place I have in mind."

"Makes sense what do you think we should go with, are we going to try to make a name for ourselves or should we just keep as anonymous as possible?" Purpura asked as she started to ponder over some ideas.

"Either way we're going to be known at some point, but just to keep it easy I'd say for an anonymous look."

"Okay so basically just something tactical, but with hoods or maybe a mask of sorts to hide our faces." She stated as she took out a notebook and began to jot some notes down.

"Exactly, after that I need to make a replacement for SnapShot. I can fight well up close but I've always been at my best at range, with you and me coordinating shots it will be easy for us to stay in the shadows."

"Are you sure? It is your sniper after all, I can get just some stock rifle and work with that." She said as she seemed a bit uncomfortable using my old weapon.

"Hey I said SnapShot is yours okay? Besides it looks a lot better on you than it did on me." I said with a smile.

"S-shut up." Purpura said as she blushed a bit from my comment.

"Besides, I'm looking at something that hits a bit harder. SnapShot is a damn good rifle but it suites you perfectly, its caliber is the right amount for you so that you won't have any trouble managing the recoil."

"What's that supposed to mean!?" She said annoyed.

"Well not trying to be frank Purpura but your not the biggest kid in the jungle gym." I said as she socked me on the arm. Her face still a shade a red.

"You don't have to remind me.." She said in a pout.

"Not to mention I have to find you a close quarter option." I stated as she looked at me surprised.

"What!?"

"What you didn't think I was going to let you off the hook? I know you never had much experience with fighting with a melee weapon, but I'm hear to teach you. And unlike the Fang I won't take a meal away if you're struggling. You're helping me so I'm going to do the same." I said as I walked up to the bed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Thanks Dezmond." She said as she looked up me before pulling me into an embrace. "For helping the faunus, for letting me join you, for saving me back on the train, just for everything." She said as she tightened the embrace. The chest region of my shirt began to dampen as I could tell she was crying. I returned the embrace as I began to run a hand through her hair, around her faunus antlers. trying to soothe her.

"Hey don't mention it. I... I don't know how I would of done this on my own, but now that I have someone I can trust I feel like I have a shot. A shot to stop this senseless killing." I told her as she pulled away and began to wipe the tears from her face. Her light brown still a bit watery from before. She took a breathe as she composed herself and sat back down on the bed.

"So when should we go?" She asked.

"Stores should be open around seven so I'd say we head out about twenty till and make our way to the store I have in mind."

"Well we have some time to kill, so I'm going to enjoy my bed a little longer. Just wake me when it's time to go okay?" She said as she threw a cover over herself and began to get comfortable.

"Yeah no problem Purpura, I'll be up. Got alotta stuff on my mind." I replied

"Night." She said as she rolled over.

"Morning." I said sarcastically.

* * *

"So what's this place you have in mind?" Purpura asked me as we walked through the scarcely occupied streets of Vale. The city was now full tilt in festival mode as every corner had some sort of poster or banner of the upcoming tournament. I knew it was a big deal but I've never been remotely close to one, my team wasn't able to participate in the tournament our first year due to one of our missions going much longer than expected. I was looking forward to the event taking place in Atlas for our senior and final year but then life happened. I'd surely miss most of the activities this year as well but it would be well worth it if we could put this Cinder Fall in the ground. Once she was out of the way we could finally start making a change for the faunus.

"Remnant to Dezmond." Purpura said as she waved a hand in front of me. "Are you even listening?"

"Sorry, the place is called Hunters Combat Attire Incorporated, it's a fairly big store, they should have everything we need as far as gear goes. After that I know a good weapon shop, matter a fact a lot of the current parts in SnapShot are from that store." I said as we rounded the corner to our first objective. "And we're here."

We walked inside to see that we were the first customers. "Alright lets make this as quick as we can, don't worry about the cost. It's better to spend a little extra on your gear and have it save you than getting some cheap crap that fails the moment it gets a chance." I said to Purpura, she sent a small nod and we split up.

After about ten minutes I found everything I needed and was awaiting Purpura. She walked up to me with a couple bags full of gear and I purchased it via one of the workers. We exited the store and I lead us towards our next objective.

"Find everything you needed?" I asked Purpura.

"You weren't kidding about that store having everything, but yeah I have a good set of gear that should work perfectly with our intent." Purpura said as she held one of the bags up. "So what's the game plan for tonight? Find another place to lay low for the time being?" She asked.

"I know of a lightly outfitted warehouse that was once used by the White Fang, it has since been abandoned and should work until we find something more permanent. Now that we have a game plan I want to stay out of eyesight as much as we can, maybe try to find an apartment to rent out for the duration of our mission." I said as I panned through my scroll and marked the aforementioned building for later.

"Sounds good, as long as we have a roof over our head it beats being on a field op." Said as she shuddered a bit.

"Word..." I laughed as we bumped fists. After another couple of minutes we reached Dust Nation.

"Welcome to Dust Nation how can I be of service?" An older man asked as we entered.

"Well I'm looking on building a new project. Where are the heavy barrels located?" I asked the man.

"Back corner, left wall." The man stated without a second thought.

"Thanks I got it from here." I said as Purpura and I walked towards the back corner of the store.

"So you gunna tell me what kind of rifle your building?" She asked as I nodded and pulled out my scroll. I navigated through my apps until I found the file with a 3D blueprint of the weapon.

"I worked on the finishing touches this morning." I said as we overlooked the model.

"Wow this is pretty in depth, how long have you been working on this weapon?" She asked.

"Off and on about three years, I've always had SnapShot so I never really planned on actually building it, it became more of a hobby working on it than anything." I said as began to zoom on the individual parts. My rifle was built on the bull-pup design, the weapon featured a free-floating barrel and adjustable front grip as well as a bi-pod to meet the needs of any encounter. While the weapon was bull-pup I made room in front of the trigger guard to house a spare magazine in order to quickly change magazines, as the .50 cal magazines only held five rounds. It was molded with an highly adjustable stock that also greatly cushioned the recoil.

"Bit much you think?" She asked sarcastically.

"The more the better, I know it's flashy but each part serves it purpose." I said as I began to scour the store for the needed parts. After about twenty minutes of searching I brought all of the weapon parts to the cashier and purchased them.

We left the store and began to walk towards the warehouse I mentioned earlier. 'Spent a lot more than I expected today, and were nearly out of cash. We might have to target a store earlier than anticipated.' I thought as we worked our way through Vale. The city was soon becoming more and more occupied and it would be a good time to lay low.

* * *

I looked at my rifle in my completed form, it's bi-pod extended and it resting upon a workbench in the warehouse.

"Man that didn't take you more than half an hour, couldn't help yourself huh?" Purpura said arms crossed as she stood behind me. I picked up my rifle and began a functions test to make sure everything was in working order. The bolt slid back and forth as if it were on ice and I pulled the trigger.

* **CLICK** *

"I mean if you had your heart set on something for three years you'd understand." I said as I performed another functions test and set the weapon on safe.

"Oh believe me it's been a whole lot longer than three years for my people." She said with a bit of venom.

"Oh.. Sorry that's not what I-" I started before she cue me off.

"I know just pulling you leg a bit." She said now sporting a smirk. "But in all honestly I'm looking forward to that day, and since I've joined you I've felt closer than I ever did with the Fang. At least you let me know how we're going to accomplish our goals, instead of us just going on mission after mission with no clear purpose other than violence." She said as she curled her fist.

I stood up from the bench and grabbed two covered sheathes I bought earlier and handed them to her.

"What's this?" She asked as I placed them in her hands.

"Well I couldn't just be thinking about myself, my weapon wasn't the only thing I've been working on lately. I eyed these at the shop and thought they'd work perfectly for you." I said as she removed the cover. Her eyes widened when she revealed the set of dust-infused twin daggers. They were blackened six-inch blades that housed a magazine that could be chambered with any kind of available dust. They were made out carbon-fiber weave and were extremely light, almost too light to be lethal weapons

"Dezmond, you-you didn't have to." She said as she looked over the daggers.

"Hey I said I was going to train you right? These weapons are perfect for your body type, you're quick and these weapon will just reinforce that. Plus the dust gives you all kinds flexibility in the field."

"Thank you." She said softly.

"Oh... that's the last thing your going to be saying after a couple minutes." I said as I pulled out Mortem.

* * *

 **AN: Well, well, well I got this chapter out a bit earlier than I thought I would, don't worry I'm nearly done with the next and plane for it to be out this weekend as well. Also for those of you that are wondering about the new rifle it's design is heavily based off the DSR-500 if you'd like to see a visual representation of it. So the pupil becomes the teacher, we'll see how Dezmond has learned from his teacher and applies is to his lessons. See you all soon -MidKnight209**


	29. Chapter 29: Embers Rise

Purpura swung both of her daggers in unison as I faked right and last second dipped left under her swing. I sent the handle of my estoc into her stomach and she doubled over from the blow and fell down to one knee.

"That's good for now." I said as I holstered Mortem and helped Purpura up. I picked her from her shoulders and she fell into me, still trying to catch her breath.

"Y-you... c-could g-go easy on... me you know." She said between breathes as I helped her to her feet.

"Hey it might be tough right now but you'll be thanking me soon enough." I said as it looked like she finally caught her breath.

"I'm terrible at fighting." She said under her breath as she continued to stare at the ground.

"Hey no one is born a good fighter." I said as she looked up at me. "This stuff takes dedication, repetition, time. I know we don't have time for you become a master fighter but you from our sparring I can tell you already have the essentials down. Whether you think you are a good fighter or not Purpura for you being a so called beginner you damn good."

"You're just saying that."

"I'm serious, for one you're a hell of a lot faster than me. Your short which with you're speed makes you a small target. Obviously everyone can use improvements in some areas. Including me, a little confidence can go along way when comes to fighting. Stop selling yourself short Purpura." I said as I grew a smirk. "Not literally anyways."

"Shut up!" She said with a smile and hint of pink on her cheeks. "Well anyways what do you think I need to work on the most?" She asked.

"Well the stance you fighting in can use some work, you fighting as if you want to go on the offensive immediately. While down the line I could see you being very effective in that method I want to focus on your defense. I want to build up your defensive and evasive fighting to the point where once you can launch a strike the offense will come naturally. So for now let's focus on dodging and counters. The key to evading is to start of with a solid game plan. For instance take into consideration what kind of weapon the enemy is using. If I'm fighting someone with broadsword or a possibly a two-handed blade I'm going to make it a goal to either A stay inside his guard and force him to fight with his body or B stay out of his reach and slowly pepper him with strikes and wear them down." I explained as she just nodded, absorbing the information.

"Now that I know how to fight that person. I have to execute, this is where patience comes into play. I have to stay focused and commit to the strategy, if something goes wrong at first you don't want to just abandon the plan and immediately start winging it, there's where mistakes are made, and some mistakes can't be undone. Now don't be misunderstood, sometimes you need to adjust on the fly but that's what I said in having a game plan. Plan B is still part of the plan, so if the enemy catches on to what you're trying to do you can switch it up catch them off guard. Fighting is a lot like a game of chess in a way. It's a battle of minds, the difference being the willpower of the mind. If you dedicate yourself into every strike, into every time you push yourself up from a blow, there's not much that can stop you. Sure you might lose a fight, everyone has lost at least once, losing can be more of a good thing than bad. You learn from your loss and use the drive inside you to push yourself to become stronger, mentally, physically, spiritually. You never stop moving forward, for when it is time to finally look back you can see how far you've truly come."

Purpura brushed herself off and raised her daggers once more in readied stance. "Hey Dez I didn't hear a bell." I withdrew Mortem and took a similar stance, we circled each other waiting for the other to make the first move. I made eye contact with her and with an exhale moved first. I came with a high left stab to which Purpura countered by swinging both her daggers up, knocking my strike upwards. I took the recoil as both of us were wide open and ducked low as she tried to hit me with her daggers as she twirled, as I ducked I used my momentum and performed a sweeping leg kick. "Ah!" She yelped as I took her feet out from underneath her. She hit the ground in a heap but placed her hands behind her head and hand-sprung back into a defensive stance. I mirrored her stance and waited for her strike, but she held true and wouldn't leave her stance.

'Patience. Good she's taking everything I said to heart.' I thought as I ran forward to engage first once more. I ran forward and leaped forward in an thrusting strike. She blocked once more using her blades to knock me aside to the right, but now that she had an opening she sent high right kick into my back throwing me forward. I turned around to counter but I lost sight of her and didn't see her until I looked up. I was met with another strong right leg kick to my chest, I hit the ground hard as I slid across the warehouse floor, losing my grip on my weapon in the process. I went to push myself up as she landed next to her weapon pointed over me.

"Got ya!" She yelled in excitement as her were still trained on me.

"Over-confidence can get lead to mistakes as well."

"Wha-" She said as I triggered my semblance. She instinctively covered her eyes and stumbled back a bit. I took advantage as I jumped up and tackled her, I hit my head a bit hard against the ground as we landed in a heap. Activating my semblance after an hour or so of training must of took my aura down to near nothing, as my head was throbbing a bit. I shook my head from the darkness to discover Purpura landed on top of me. She rolled off me as she was still trying to get her senses back, and I simply laid there in exhaustion.

"What the hell was that?" Purpura said as she rubbed her temple with her right hand, still on the ground.

"My plan B, I didn't want to use it on you but I thought this would be a good a time as any to show you. Its my semblance, I can emit a pulse of pure Aura that blinds and disorientates anything within a close proximity." I said as I walked over and kneeled besides her, rubbing her back to help with nausea caused by my semblance.

"Ugh.. no fair.. I don't even have a semblance." She said still rubbing her head.

"Everyone has one Purpura, we just need to unlock it. It's something that can't be forced, but with training and missions we'll be going on it's only a matter of time until it reveals itself." I said as I ran my arms around her and pulled her up.

"Hey you did good, you stayed patient and waited for the best openings to strike. For your size you sure got a damned strong kick." I complimented her.

"T-thanks, I owe it all to you though, I was just following what you said." She replied.

"Well you're a quick learner, I have a feeling that it will roll over into finding your semblance too. Now come on, that's more than enough for today." I said helping her to one of rooms. "Let's get some rest and we can talk more about this later."

"Sounds good to me." She agreed as she all but collapsed into her bed, asleep moments later. I walked back into the sparring room and secured her weapons. She was still wearing her sheathes so I placed them on the table nearest to her bed. I was spent myself so sleep sounded like a good idea, but I chose to pass as I still needed to pair my weapon with my scroll.

* * *

I opened my eyes to see the my rifle on the table in front of me. I rubbed my eyes and stood up, my joints popping from the motion. 'What time is it?' I thought to myself as I walked over to back door of the warehouse, it was still dark outside but I could see a sliver of orange begin to paint the horizon. 'Guess I fell asleep waiting from my weapon and scroll to synchronize.' I walked back over to my weapon scroll still inserted and checked it.

'Synchronization complete. Ready to eject.'

My scroll read as I unplugged the scroll. I scrolled through some of configurations to make sure everything was good to go, as nothing seem out of place I pocketed my scroll and walked over towards the bunks. Purpura was still collapsed on the bed in the same matter I last saw her. 'Man I didn't mean to work her that hard, it's good to see she's giving in her all though. Unfortunately anything less than 100% isn't going to cut it when we made our move. A lot of things were going to have to go right in order for us to be successful in our mission and I needed to make sure we in our best fighting form. There wouldn't be any second chances this time.'

'And that was the major problem, we were going to have to rely on some outside factors in order for us to be successful. One mainly being Team RWBY. I wasn't quite sure were I stood in their eyes. Ruby for the most part seemed convinced that she could turn me around and help me fight for the "good side." In a way she successful, I would need her and her team's help in order to accomplish our mission. But the bloodshed it took for me to fix what was right. I'd never forgive myself for being taking duped like that, that Cinder bitch was going to pay for leading us like lambs to the slaughter. Hell Roman didn't probably bat an eye when he heard of this plan he lead us on, mostly likely knowing how many of us would die for what we thought would be bringing us equality.'

And then there's her teammates.

'Weiss Schnee, heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. One of the primary targets of our robberies. Hell she probably trust me as far as she could throw me, and judging by her stature isn't very far. Let's not even go into our fight, shit I nearly choked her out. Sure I was just trying to knock her unconscious but from her perspective she could of thought I was trying to squeeze the very air our of her lungs. Even if I got the rest of her teammates blessings she'd never truly forgive me, and hell I'd live with that, I wasn't looking to form some sort of budding relationship. I needed their help as much they need mine, even if they weren't fully aware of it.'

'Blake Belladonna, now out of the four she was a real wild card. After extensive digging I found out she at one point was a member of the White Fang. Bane helped me attain that information, apparently she was really close to one of the higher ups in a splinter group of the Fang. After what happened to Bane that new group would surely rise to power and bring the rest of the Fang with them. Maybe she would be the easiest to convince out of the four, Purpura and I being fellow ex-members would have something in common with her. I'd definitely have to keep tabs on her if possible.'

'And finally but surely not least was Yang. Ruby's over-bearing sister. Now she would no doubt want to rip out my skull from my still living body and beat me to death with it. Things being physically impossible aside, she is probably the most dangerous and in our case the most important one in the group. She was one person not to trifle with. I saw what she did to a heavily armored Atlesian Paladin with one punch. Monty knows what a punch that powerful would do to the human body. My guess is roadkill wouldn't be far off.'

This is why I couldn't just meet up with them and ask for a partnership. They would just try to tear me to pieces. I'd have to meet on our terms. As I overlooked the gear me and Purpura purchased yesterday a small grin came to my face. It was time to stage another robbery.

* * *

 **AN:** **I swear every time I plan on having rapid updates work just cold-clocks me in the face and I'm forced to delay. At minimum I'll have at least a weekly update but on good weeks I'll shoot for two. That being said I'm not trying to rush this story but hell I like seeing my favorite fics updated regularly so I'm going to try to do the same. Now on to the story after a bit of setup the story is ready to take of into uncharted water. It's been a little while since I've write a non-canon encounter and I've been looking forward to writing this one for a long time. See you then -MidKnight209**


	30. Chapter 30: In Due Time

**Chapter 30: In Due Time**

* * *

 **"All that we suffer through leads to determination.**

 **The trials we all go through gives us the strength to carry on.**

 **Something within us burns, desire feeds the will to live.**

 **A reason to believe, I will see redemption." -Jesse Leach**

* * *

 **Vale Outskirts**

 **Slate & Reign**

* * *

"So how exactly are we supposed to get this group of hunters to believe us? Like do you think their going to actually want to work with us?" Purpura asked as she began to tie her steel toed boots that had a few hidden tricks in them, a hidden blade that she could withdraw via hitting a switch on her heels. She was wearing some form-fitting black jeans and for her top she wore a black long-sleeve shirt with a hood that had additional padding on the elbow joints. Over that she wore a charcoal colored durable flak jacket, which I recommended due her small stature. She slipped on her finger-less gloves as she grabbed the mask she picked out from the table and began to look it over.

It was a blank hockey mask built from aluminum alloy designed to keep the user safe from debris and in unfortunate situations small arms fire. She bought us a pair of identical masks but I took it on myself to spruce them up a bit. I took a small blade and engraved into the left side of her mask a skull in order to give them a bit of character. I did the same to my mask, the only difference being I engraved the right side of mine.

The gear I wore wasn't too different from my normal attire, albeit it was solid black. I wore a pair of normal black boots that were mostly covered by my rugged pants. I wore the same long-sleeve shirt as Purpura, my vest was a lot thinner than hers though as I preferred mobility over defense.

"Well we are exactly planning to ask them nicely. We have to show them that we have the upper hand, that they will be joining us 'per se'. We're going to show them that we don't need them more than we'd like to have them, that way appear more than capable of pulling this off. All in all is a bit of a bluff Purpura. We just have to play our cards right." I said as she placed her mask in one of her pockets, me doing the same soon after.

"So then were basically trying to play them then? Alright let me just hear the plan from the beginning." She said as she ran a hand over her temple.

"Okay so here's how it's going to work. Knowing that there not full blown huntresses the best time for our plan to take effect is today because it's Friday. I did some snooping around some of the nearby weapon shops and their team leader Ruby Rose has a shipment of weapon parts and ammunition coming in for pickup at a specialty shop. Now like I said she and her teammates are still students so that means she would have to come pick them up after classes, and by the time they reached the store it will be nearing dusk, the perfect time for us to spring an attack undetected." I started as she Purpura listened intently.

"Now here is we're things can start to go wrong. This plan hinges on her either A, being alone. Or B she is with her partner, Weiss Schnee. If she's alone you and I will have no problem taking her on, if she is with her partner we should still be okay. It will become a problem is she is with her whole team, I think we could take them on but we'd have to fight them in a literal perfect fight and unless your semblance is luck then we'd up shit creek without a boat to start with." I said as she Purpura chuckled a bit.

"In all seriousness we're going to establish our plan as if she has one teammate with her. In the case of it being Ms. Schnee we are going to hit them in a bit of a robbery. You're going to be set up in a nearby alley waiting for them to leave the store with their shipment. I'm going to setup on the 5th floor of an empty apartment complex eight blocks away. I have a good line of sight of the store and everything within a two-block radius of it. Once they leave you are going to shadow them until they reach a nearby alleyway. Once I they reach that point I'm going to hit them with this." I said as I held up a modified dust round.

"What kind of round is that?" Purpura asked as she inspected it.

"This round contains two-types of dust. Burn and Ice. Once it hits a target it will create a temporary smoke screen and give you the window you need. Now since I'm not trying to kill them I'll obviously aim for a wall nearby as the aura won't be active. I will call out my shot in advance to give you time to prepare. Once my round hits you are going to jump in and jack their supplies and make a break for the alley way, with your eventual target being the warehouse adjacent to this one. After my first shot I'll move locations and give you covering fire, as their aura will now be active I'll switch to these rubber non-lethal training rounds. They still hurt like hell to get hit with but they will serve their purpose in slowing them down."

"I can't help but to feel that I'm being used as bait." Purpura said as she crossed her arms in a mock pout.

"Hey I need you for this, for one you're a lot faster than me, not to mention you being a faunus gives you better vision if they wait longer to pick this shipment up than expected. Plus Ruby Rose is ridiculous fast, like crazy fast, she'd have no problem catching me, hell she did it once before. So I'll be doing everything I can to slow her down while you with your natural quickness will be leading them into our trap. Speaking of which when they get there I'll activate the jammer I have to ensure they can't call for their teammates. Once they arrive in the warehouse is when we're going to face-off."

"So what's the plan on dealing with them? As a duo or individually?" She asked.

"Individually at first. I want you to start of with Rose, she uses a hybrid sniper/scythe and uses her semblance and recoil for the weapon to feed into her speed. Since she has the reach on you your best bet will be to stay in tight on her. Her weapon is large and even with her speed it takes time to maneuver it, especially because she uses her momentum when fighting. If you can cut her off early she won't have time to build up her speed and you can land some hits.

Now Schnee is a different story, she relies heavily on her dust usage and semblance to keep you off balance. She is very flexible due to her availability of dust she uses, which are built into her rapier. She tends to fight defensively early and waits for an opening, so when fighting her you want to make her take the offensive, so if you can try to pepper her with SnapShot or try to get in her head, aggravating her is very effective.

Once we have them weakened we will attack them as a duo, see how well Beacon trains their students. Once we have them subdued, we'll take them in captivity. That's when we'll send their teammates a message, we'll have them meet us here on Saturday and we'll make our cause known. In the meantime I'll try to see if I can pry any information out of them, not forcefully or anything. I'll just try to use some mind games against them and see if I can get anything useful."

"Man Dez, a lot is going to have to go right in order for us to pull this off. Say everything works and we capture them, what's to stop their teammates from getting outside help?" Purpura asked.

"Oh that's easy, Yang Xiao-Long is Ruby's half-sister, she won't take the risk of her younger sister being potentially hurt. So all I have to do is threaten them with that and they'll come alone, granted she is going to be rage monster once she gets here but I'm counting on that."

"Your counting on that?" Purpura asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Correct, she'll most likely storm in trying to save her sister. As much of a handful she'll be in that enrage state it will lead her into making mistakes. For one I'll say I'm working alone, and she'll come in here guns blazing only expecting me." I explained as Purpura caught on.

"And that's where I come in." Purpura stated

"Exactly, they'll just be expecting one adversary and you'll throw a wrench into their plans. Now we don't exactly have to beat them, because just getting them to arrive here is a successful mission. They'll have no choice but to accept our alliance, regardless if they like it or not it will be for the best." I told her as I checked the time on my scroll. "Okay we have a little over an hour before Beacon ends classes for the day. Add thirty minutes onto that gives us roughly ninety minutes to get into position. How are you on rounds?" I asked I checked my magazines myself.

'Ten pistol magazines, check. Ten sniper magazines loaded with special "burnt-ice" rounds, plus two in the weapon, check. I reached over and checked my left vest straps, two nine-bangs and two smoke grenades check. Alright good to go.'

"10 fifteen round magazines, two smokes, and two nine-bangs. All set Dez."

"Alright comms check" I said as I turned on the headset and held the mic key on my earpiece. "You here me?" I said as she nodded.

"Read you lima-charlie." Purpura confirmed.

"Alright let's wait about 45 minutes until we move, by then the sun will be on the horizon and we can stick to the shadows. Remember once were out there we go by our call signs."

"Ugh fine, I still don't like being Shadow 2. Can't I be something more unique?" Purpura said a bit annoyed.

"If it's that much of an issue than sure, what do you wanna go by?" I said as face-palmed.

"How about Ghost?" She asked excited.

"Like that shooter? Nah that's way over-used, what about Specter?"

"No that's like than one movie that won't stop making." She complained.

"For the love of Oum just think of something then." I said as I started to get a migraine.

"How about Banshee?" She asked.

"Yeah that will work, works better because your a girl too." I quickly agreed. "Now that we have our call signs is there anything else you want to go over?"

"Nah I should be okay Dez, we've spent enough time worrying about the plan. Plus it's like they say, no plans survive first contact." She said as she shrugged her shoulders.

"You're not wrong but it doesn't hurt to be well prepared any ways. We got this Purpura, this is the first step to taking Cinder down and avenging our brothers and sisters."

"They say the first step is always the hardest Dez, but I believe in you, we can do this." She said held out a fist.

"That's all I ask." I said as I completed the fist bump.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Team RWBY**

* * *

"As I traveled through the treacherous forest I kept my wits about me. For at any moment I knew the cursed creatures of Grimm could leap from the shadows and try to gain the upper hand. It was due to my superior hunter instincts that I was able to catch an Alpha Beowolf by surprise. I returned to the village a hero having slain the monstrosity that plagued them." Professor Port rambled on as my team and I sat through the lecture.

Honestly this was one of my favorite classes next to sparring. I didn't mind hearing about a good tale of man versus Grimm. I always loved hearing about these stories when I was younger and it's a trend that has continued to this day. At worst I could always get in small nap, as he would get so enveloped into his memories that he'd lose track of time, let alone his audience.

Although if Weiss caught me she'd quickly try to wake me, scolding me and saying I should take this more seriously. Even thought I've caught her struggling to stay awake during his lectures.

I continued to listen to the Professor until my scroll vibrated in my pocket. I looked to Professor once more and seeing that he was facing away from the class while talking I quickly checked my scroll.

 _'Dear Miss Rose,_

 _Your shipment of dust rounds and magazines has arrived. Please feel free to pick them at your earliest convenience._

 _Grimm Reaper Munitions._

'Sweeet.' I thought to myself as my day suddenness got a whole lot better. I wasn't expected those rounds for another couple days and now I could go to the shooting range this weekend! 'Maybe Weiss would want to come with me into Vale to come pick them up, we haven't had much time to hang out lately as she has been stressing out about the Vytal Festival coming up. I don't know why she stressing out about it so much, she's one of the best fighters of the first years. I know we'll all do great so hopefully going out will get her to relax a bit. Oooh I know! I'll invite Blake and Yang too that we can make it a team outing.

"..and that's when I took the Boarbatusk by it's tusks and"

 ***BEEEEEEEEP***

"Oh excuse me, one of these days students I'll manage my time better. No assignments this weekend, as I want you to focus on the upcoming tournament tryouts. Class dismissed." The Professor said to everyone's enjoyment. My team and I gathered by the exit and began walking towards our dorm room.

"Man I can't remember the last time were we didn't have at least one assignment on the weekend." Yang said to the group the rest of us agreeing.

"It seems like they want us to focus all of our attention on the Festival." Blake commented.

"As they should, this is only an annual event after all." Weiss followed up as we reached our dorm. I placed my scroll over the lock and it clicked open.

"So since we have some free time I was thinking we could go out as a team into Vale and just have some fun." I said to my team.

"Yeah that sounds like fun, I can never turn down a trip into Vale." Yang agreed. "What about you Blake-y? I always enjoy my partners company." Yang finished as she shot her a partner a smile.

"Well you can never have to many books, and there's a couple of bookstores I could check out while we're there. I'm in." Blake said as she looked through one of her books.

"What about you Weiss?" I asked my partner.

"Well I don't want to be the only one here. And even though I think we should be training more for the tournament I think some down time could do us all some good." Weiss said as she began typing into her scroll. "Come on the next airship into Vale leaves in 15 minutes." She finished as we began to walk out towards the air pad.

* * *

 **VALE**

 **TEAM RWBY**

* * *

"So where should we go first?" I asked my team as we stepped off the airship.

"Well we could just look around, besides a couple of bookstores is there anywhere else we needed to go?" Yang asked the group.

"Well I do need to pick up a shipment of dust rounds, but besides that I just wanted to hang out with you guys." I said.

"Well I did want to go to some stores to find some new attire to wear for the tournament. I wanted to assure that not only that we perform our best but we also looked our best." Weiss said as she looked to the rest of our team.

"Oh I assure you Weiss I always look my best." Yang said as she sent her a wink. Weiss simply rolled her eyes as Blake spoke up.

"I've learned that performance always outweighs appearance." Blake said with a smirk.

"Well it doesn't hurt to have both." I said trying to throw Weiss some support.

"Thank you Ruby, at least you understand." Weiss said.

"You guys heard it! Weiss said I was right!" I quickly stated as Blake and Yang started to laugh from my comment.

"Oh quiet you." Weiss said with a small smile and roll of her eyes.

"Well since everyone agreed I know the perfect place." My sister said as she motioned everyone to follow her.

We happily fell in step with her as we chatted idly about various subjects, going from how classes were going to the weather. Eventually we fell back on the subject of the Vytal Festival Tournament once more.

"So once we get past the first round who do you think we should send for the doubles round Ruby?" Weiss asked me.

"Well ..umm, I honestly haven't thought that far ahead Weiss. I was just going to try and take it one step at a time." I said while rubbing the back of my head.

"You shouldn't talk about the second round as if we've already won." Blake stated.

"Excuse me if I'm confident of our team's abilities. I have no doubt that we will make it past the first round and the following rounds." Weiss said as she held a hand to her chest.

"I agree with Weiss-y here, they're not gunna stand a chance." Yang said as she started to pop her knuckles.

"Well I'm thinking for starters I'd have to choose between you three, I've always been better against the Grimm and you guys have a lot more experience than me when comes to fighting other hunters." I said as looked to the ground.

"Come on Rubes in know you'll kick butt." Yang said as she threw an arm around me and pulled me into a side hug.

"You don't give yourself enough credit Ruby, after all you did lead a team to stopping what could of been a catastrophe." Blake said to me with a smile.

"As much of a dolt you can be, you do always lead us to victory." Weiss complimented.

"Thanks... It means a lot hearing that all from you. I know I wasn't prepared to be a leader from the start, but know I'm giving it everything I can in order for the rest of you to become the best huntresses you can."

"As only a true leader would." Weiss said as she placed a hand on my shoulder.

"So Operation No Homework Weekend is a go?" I said as I placed my hand above my head.

"It's a go!" Yang said as she mirrored.

"Agreed." Blake followed.

"Fine..." Weiss agreed as she was the last to follow.

"BANZAI!"

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Purpura**

"Shadow? Any sign of them ?" I asked as I checked the time on my scroll again. It was a little later than we expected them, and at this point I wasn't quite sure if they'd be showing up tonight or not. 'Just stay patient Purpura, the intel he got was good so they should be showing up tonight. It was just a matter of time.'

"Negative Banshee, it seems they're behind schedule a bit. Stand fast Banshee I have a feeling they'll be here soon enough. Shadow out." Dezmond said to me as we returned to radio silence. 'I can do this, I've been part of plenty guerilla style operations before. If anything this one was a whole lot less violent. Just gotta wait for the perfect moment.'

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Team RWBY**

* * *

"What do you think Weiss? This one or the black one?" My sister said as she held up two different jackets from behind the dressing room door.

"I think the white one would suit you better." Weiss said as she examined both of the jackets.

"You're just saying that because everything you own is white." Blake commented from the corner of the store, reading one of the new books she picked up.

"Coooommee onnn Yang the store with my weapon parts is going to close before I get the chance to go." I whined as I looked at the time.

"Oh sorry Rubes... Well if you want you and Weiss can go. There's one more store Blake wanted to go to after this and we can meet up there once you got your parts." Yang said.

"Well.. Okay, is that fine with you Weiss?" I asked my partner, not wanting to if I was going to force her.

"That's fine, its best if I keep an eye one you anyways, don't wanting you to run into another vigilante while I'm around." Weiss said as she took my arm and we left towards the parts store.

"Ugh you're sister is pickier than I thought when it comes to clothing." Weiss said with a roll of her eyes. "Thank you for giving me an way out."

"That's what friends are for." I said with a smile as she nodded and we continued our way. We rounded several buildings and finally I saw the store within site. "This is the place Weiss." I said as we entered the store.

"Welcome to Reaper Rounds and more, how may I help you ladies?" One of the store keepers asked from behind the counter as we stepped inside.

"Yes I'm here to pickup an order for Ruby Rose." I said as I handed my scroll to the worker. He ran a quick scan to verify my identity.

"Alright everything checks out Ms. Rose, let me just grab your order from the back and you'll be good to go."

"Thank you sir." I said with a smile as I was eager to receive my new HE(High Explosive) rounds. The ones I ordered this time around were even more powerful than the last. After dealing with the Grimm from the attack on Vale it was clear that I needed something with more power. It would also help my boost my semblance and make my swings more powerful, as long as I could handle the recoil they created.

"Alright here you go ma'am. Is there anything else you needed assistance with today?" The worker asked.

"No thank you, this is all I needed." I replied.

"Alright you to have a great evening." He said as we exited the store with a wave.

"I honestly hope you can handle those rounds Ruby, it is a sizeable step-up in dust quantity." Weiss said as she overlooked my order.

"Yeah I know, but I have to keep pushing myself to become a stronger huntress. Mentally and physically, I want to be able to push myself and I thought this would be a good way to test how much our training has helped."

"Well I can't argue with you there, I'll make sure to accompany you in your 'tests' that way I can assure you correctly apply the dust and don't hurt yourself." Weiss said.

"Awww Weiss you do care!" I said as I manage to pull her into a one-armed hug while I still held my order.

"Knock it off you dolt!" Weiss said, her voice cracking as she pulled out of my embrace. "I swear sometimes you can be so chil-"

"HEY!" I said as someone bowled Weiss and me over. As I hit the ground I noticed whoever ran through me stole part of my package. The dark figure ran into the nearest alleyway and continued running. "We gotta stop them Weiss they stole my rounds!" I said to Weiss as I unsheathed Crescent Rose into my scythe and took off. Weiss was right behind me, Myrtenaster in hand as we chased after this thief. We rounded another corner as the figure ran into a dead end looking up at the wall.

"I'm only going to ask once you street scum! Drop the package and place your hands in the air!" Weiss said as with her blade pointed at the figure. They weren't very tall as they were about my height, they took my package and placed it on the ground besides them. Then they raised their hands in the air, still facing the wall.

"Now turn around!" Weiss demanded as she confidently took a step forward, settling into her stance. I mirrored her as I held Crescent Rose behind me, ready to lunge if necessary. The figure slowly obeyed, turning around their hands still in the air. They were dressed in all black uniform of sorts, their hood drawn up obscuring their back of their head. It's face was covered by a black mask of sorts, the left side of it was engraved in the image of a skull. It then became clear to me that this person was no common thief.

"Now drop the mask!" I shouted at the figure. The person in question simply tilted their heads at my demand and pointed behind me. Weiss and me both took the smallest of glances towards our flank only to her a whirring sound approaching us.

"Look out!" I shouted as I triggered my semblance and tackled Weiss to the ground as a round impacted and detonated on the wall next to us. The alleyway exploded into a fog as looked towards the figure, it clearly using the distraction to run up what we thought was the dead end of a wall. As it reached the top they mockingly waved at us as it threw a canister towards us. Weiss still being caught off guard from the first strike was unaware and I threw myself over her once more shielding of her from whatever the canister contained. As I closed my eyes the canister exploded in several high-pitched tones. 'Thank Oum it was just some sort of distraction device.' I thought as I helped Weiss up. "Weiss are you okay?" I asked not sure if I hurt her by using my semblance.

"Y-yeah I'm fine Ruby. T-thank you." She said as she slowly stood. "What was that?" She asked confused.

"I don't know, but we can't let them get away. I don't care about my package, these people are dangerous and the people of Vale can't afford to have them walking around free." I said as I threw Crescent Rose on to my lower back, holstering it.

"I couldn't agree more." Weiss agreed, her form gaining its resolve.

"Alright follow me, if we take the rooftops we can track that person down. There's no way I'm going to let them outrun me." I said as I ran towards the dead end, I triggered my semblance once more and the world around became a blur as whirled through the air and landed on the rooftop. I glanced back to see Weiss jumping off her glyphs not far behind me.

I continued running forward as scanned the adjacent rooftops for the criminal. Then I saw it, three buildings down a dark blur jumped into another alleyway. "Over there Weiss, follow me!" I shouted as I changed direction and began my pursuit. After a just a matter of seconds I reached the alley and jumped in. I saw the figure round another corner, glancing back as they did so. I continued forward and around the corner, Weiss not far behind, I looked ahead to see the figure reaching into a pocket and throwing another canister behind them. I pulled out Crescent Rose from my back and sliced the canister into two halves before it could detonate. As I landed into a roll from my clean cut I saw the runner push open a door leading to an old factory building.

As I reached the entrance of the factory I waited for Weiss to catch up. After a couple of seconds Weiss reached the doorway, her breathing very rapid.

"It could... be another trap." Weiss said between breathes as she was hunched over.

"That or they could be running on fumes and trying to hide. Either way we have to go in." I said to Weiss as I chambered a round into Crescent Rose.

"I'm going to call for backup." Weiss said as she pulled out her scroll and pulled up Yang's number. "What no signal? We're in the middle of Vale how is that possible!?" Weiss said as she angrily closed and put away her scroll. "So what's the plan Ruby?"

"I'll go in first, if it's a trap I'll be able to react fast enough to get out of there. I just need you to back me up Weiss." I said as she nodded. I walked up to the door and pushed it open and glanced around. It was dark, but I could still make out the old crates and containers littering the building. I cautiously took several steps inside, Weiss right at my side, I looked around and opened one the empty boxes. It was empty and we continued to walk through the building.

"Stop hiding you coward!" Weiss shouted in anger as her blade filled with red dust. She took a swing at one of the boxes and it ignited, the room now brighter due to the flames of the lone box. We heard series of running footsteps in front of us, we both turned our heads to face them and I fired around as the figure rounded a container. My round hit them in the side and the round knocked them to the ground. The slowly pushed themselves up as Weiss and I ran up to them.

We were feet from them when the factory lights in building suddenly turned on. Weiss and I flinched from the sudden abundance of light and used are hands to briefly cover our eyes as they adjusted.

"Ruby Rose and Weiss Schnee." We heard a voice call out from above. We saw a dark figure waiting on the catwalks above us. As our eyes adjusted the figure we saw that this figure was similarly dressed to the other person on the ground, albeit this persons mask had the skull engraved on the opposite side. That's when it struck us that the person had a rifle trained on us.

"Get down!" Weiss this time shouted as she brought up a glyph to our front. The round impacted her glyph and exploded into a fog. The force of the round knocked Weiss on her back, and the figure landed by her feet with a thrusting sword in hand. I ran towards Weiss to help her but I was struck with a flying kick as the original figure showed themselves once more. I landed in roll and looked up to the figure. They brandished twin daggers and held them in a defensive stance as if they were waiting for me to recover.

"Who are you and why do you know our names!?" I yelled out the the figure.

"You'll know in due time." The figure said a deep synthesized voice. "But for now you can call me Banshee." The figure known now as Banshee stated.

I looked to my left to see the Weiss and the other figure's blades clashing as they fought. In a blur I collided into the figure, the blunt edge of my scythe meeting their crossed blades. I pulled the trigger it impacted, knocking Banshee back. Banshee nimbly turned their momentum into a handspring and twisted mid-air landing as if the force of my swing didn't affect them. Once again they took a defensive stance and readied for me to strike once more. I changed my approach this time and ran up and took the pole of my scythe and kept it close to my side, as I reached them I began to spin, twirling my weapon with me as I unleashed a barrage of wide arc swings at Banshee.

They ducked the first swing and took a step back and leaned backwards as the second came around. As the third swing came around they took both of their blades and swung them upwards knocking my scythe high and causing me to stumble forward, as I stumbled Banshee sent a spinning kick into my side. I let out a breath as I staggered from the blow, and triggered my semblance to warp around follow up kick. With the brief window I had I blindsided them with the blunt end of Crescent Rose, sending them into a container.

Once again the figure pushed themselves up from the now dented container as they slowly moved towards me, daggers in a defensive hold. Both of us were now running on fumes as the chase and now fight have put serious strain on our aura. 'Just one more good hit and they'll be down and I can help Weiss. Can't be reckless though, another kick like that and it could be it for me as well.' I thought as I slowly approached Banshee. I could her Weiss's rapier clashing with the other figure's blade in the distance as I neared Banshee. They clearly were hurt and were waiting for me to move first as we began to circle each other. To my surprise Banshee attacked first sending her left dagger in a thrust, I leaned to my left and let the blade pass by as I retaliated with swing of my scythe. They ducked under the swing and I brought it around one more time in order to overwhelm them once again.

Banshee jumped back to avoid my swing, I missed the mark once more and with a pull of the trigger I speed up swing in order to let me speed break their defense. I brought dipped and brought Crescent Rose in an overhead swing a jumped and fired another round. They barely avoided the hammer like strike as the ground around my impact cratered. As I went to pull my weapon back Banshee's dagger shined with a blue hue and struck my weapon. My scythe froze to the ground and I pulled with all might but it didn't budge. Banshee came with an overhead axe-kick as I pulled the trigger, Crescent Rose freed from the ground and I used it to block the kick.

I succeeded but I lost grip of her as Banshee's kick sent my weapon to the ground in front of me. They followed the kick by sending the handles of their daggers into my gut. I let out a gasp of air as I doubled over from the blow, my aura breaking in the process. I grit my teeth as I stood up clenching my stomach. Banshee now had one foot resting on Crescent Rose, they looked down at the weapon and then up at me. They kicked Crescent Rose towards me, metal grinding against the floor as it stopped at the halfway point in between us.

"Do not disappoint me again." Banshee's synthesized voice said as they waited for me to pounce.

With a deep breathe I used the last of my energy to trigger my semblance one last time. I clutched my sweetheart and shifted it into it's hybrid sniper form and took aim at Banshee. They didn't move an inch as I began to squeeze the trigger.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." A voice from behind me called. I slowly turned around to see Weiss on her knees as the other figure held their sniper against the back of her head.

"W-Weiss?" I said as my eyes started to water.

"I-I'm s-sorry Ruby" Weiss said barely conscious, blood running down the her left eyebrow. I dropped Crescent Rose almost automatically as I fell to a kneel.

"Please, just d-don't hurt her. Take me instead." I said as my tears ran freely now.

"Okay." They responded as I felt Banshee grab my hands from behind and bind them with some sort of cuffs. Banshee walked me up to where the figure and Weiss was. I was pushed to a knell from behind as Weiss collapsed forward into my lap, now unconscious.

"What do you want from us?" I asked my head not breaking contact from Weiss's form.

The form threw his rifle over his shoulder and walked up to me, they looked down to me as they pulled of their mask.

"An understanding."

* * *

"An understanding." I said as Purpura sent the handle into the back of Ruby's head, knocking her unconscious next to Weiss.

"What's the plan now Dezmond." Purpura asked me as I walked over to Ruby and grabbed her scroll.

"We have the bait now, it's time to throw it out and reel in the big fish." I said as I disengaged the jammer.

* * *

 **Dusting's Book Store & More**

 **Team _ _ B Y**

* * *

"Ladies we're closing in five minutes." The store owner said from behind the counter. I checked my scroll once more to see if my sister or Weiss sent me any messages.

"Ruby just probably just got sidetracked looking at weapons Yang." Blake said as she walked up to me. "You of all people know how she is with weapons, come on we can meet them their." Blake finished as we left the store.

"I know Blake, but I thought at least Weiss would of said something by now." I said as my scroll began to ring with Ruby's contact picture coming up.

"You see, worrying about nothing." Blake said as I let out a breath.

"Yeah you're right." I said to Blake as I answered the call. "Rubes you're late, you know how I worry!" I said as video came through on her side.

"It's good to hear from you Ms. Xiao-Long." A deep voice came over the scroll as the someone was holding the scroll filming. A chill took over me as soon that chill turn into boiling rage.

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH MY SISTER AND WEISS!" I shouted into the phone, my red eyes reflecting of the screen. Blake quickly running to my side as she also looked to the video.

"Good to see you as well Ms. Belladonna." The voice said as Blake stood beside me. "Don't worry about your teammates as they're fine, albeit unconscious." The voice said as the camera turned to my sister and Weiss bound and unconscious, huddled into each other against a wall. Tears of pure anger fell down my face as I grit my teeth looking at what these bastards did to my family.

"At least will be fine if you choose to meet me at these coordinates in the next 30 minutes. The clock is ticking." It said as the call ended. A text with the address popping up immediately afterward.

"Yang we need to get back up." Blake tried to reason with me. "This has a trap written all over it." She pleaded once more.

"THE HELL WITH THAT BLAKE! I am going now! SO your either in or your out! I'm not losing another piece of my family!" I said as started to sprint in the direction of the address, Blake's footsteps echoing mine.

'I'm coming Ruby.'

* * *

 **AN: Apologies are in order first. It took longer than I expected to get that chapter out but after a couple of revisions it's out the eve of RWBY Chibi. (Not really sure how I feel about that show as will probably all just fluff-n-stuff in order to heal the wounds of the post RWBY volume 3 community.) But that besides the point.  
**

 **10,000 views...**

 **Holy crap...**

 **Thanks everyone who has followed, favorited, reviewed, and viewed. That's freaking awesome and this being my first fic, hell story I've ever written, it blows me away. So to reiterate I'd like to thank all of you. Rooster Teeth, Monty Oum, Miles Luna, Kerry Shawcross and and everyone who has put their talents into creating this amazing show called RWBY.**

 **Really looking forward to the coming chapters, and I hope you are too. Love you guys, girls. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	31. Chapter 31: Ignition

**Chapter 31: Ignition**

 **Ignition, Inception, burning is our fuse to destruction.**

 **Break the walls of ignorance to disarm the world for its last chance. - Matt Heafy**

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Team _BY**

* * *

"Yang slow down! Going in blind is only going to make things worse!" I shouted towards her as tried to keep up. I've never seen Yang run this fast before, she's usually the one that has to keep up with me but today she is on a whole new level. I know she cares for Ruby, but I never imagined her throwing her own personal safety aside to help her.

"I can't Blake! Not when we someone is out there trying to hurt her!" Yang yelled back as she rocketed around a corner and through several crates filled with miscellaneous goods. She was practically a yellow meteor, her semblance pushing her faster and faster through Vale, anything in her path was a mere speed bump.

"If we go in there blind we going to be running head on into an ambush. Please Yang let's think this through!" I yelled out as a hurdled over a set of dumpsters she plowed straight through.

With a loud sigh she stopped in her tracks and turned around to face me. Her body burns a bright yellow and her eyes were blood red. "I told you Blake there's nothing to think about! I'm not going to let her get hurt! Especially not when I can do something about it! I'm not going to break my promise Blake." Yang said as tears began to fall from her still red eyes.

"Y-Yang. What promise?" I hesitantly asked as I walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Slowly she turned up to face me her eyes now a watery lavender.

"Summer. I promised her mother. Our mother that if anything ever happened and she couldn't come back that I'd watch over Ruby. That's why I'm so overbearing on her, I won't let her down. It's the least I owe her for being there for us. That's why I can't stop now Blake." She said as her eyes turned red once more. "Because I can't lose anyone else from my family. Two is too many Blake." She finished as she started sprinting once again in the direction of our teammates.

"Damn it Yang." I said to myself as I didn't have any choice but to follow.

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Team RW_**

The back of my head was pulsing as I slowly forced open my eyes. I felt a weight on my right shoulder as I painstakingly turned my head towards to direction of the weight. Weiss was leaning on me unconscious. I held a breath as I saw that the left side of her once flawless white hair was stained a deep red, the trail leading all the way down to the bottom of her chin. My vision became blurry as tears once again filled my eyes and ran down my face. "I'm so sorry Weiss, this is all my fault. I should've just waited for back up like you wanted me to. Because of me you go hurt. I'm a terrible teammate, no a terrible leader." I said out loud to her as I leaned my head against hers once more.

"I wouldn't say that." A voice said from behind me.

I turned around to face the intruder, clenching my teeth as I did so. 'This is the person that tried to hurt me, hurt WEISS.'

"Who are you and what do you want with us!" I practically shouted as Weiss stirred a bit but stayed unconscious.

"My have you forgotten so quickly Ms. Rose, I feel a bit insulted." The man said as he slowly paced back and forth, as if he was on edge. "Then again, I guess it is common for the mind to try to repress the evils we've done in our past in order for us to justify we're the good guys." The man said as he stopped and walked up to me, his mask not breaking eye contact.

"What are you talking about? What did I ever do to you?" I questioned the man.

"Those men, those women, I called them brothers... sisters... All gone because of you and your fellow huntsman. You were no better than Cinder, leaving us for dead in those tunnels." The man said as his voice cracked a bit.

"Y-Your White Fang? You were there on the train?" I realized as I connected the pieces. "You were there to hurt people, innocent people. Why should I hold apathy for you criminals, I was just doing my job to protect the people."

"So you admit your job is to kill then." He snapped back.

"What!?" I replied.

"191... 191 of my brothers and sisters died in the tunnels that day, many of them who were just as innocent as the people you claimed to protect. Many of them who had no choice but to join up in the White Fang in order to try and seek equality instead of just hoping it would fall in their laps. People who had no choice but to take up arms or forever remain victims."

"I-I.." I started but couldn't finish, I never really thought about the other side of the fight. I always just did what I thought was best for the people.

"But not all of them had the best laid plans, not all of them were those innocent people. Some of them were just as vengeful and blood-thirsty as the Grimm we fight, and that's why I left them that day, I'll make things right my way. Our way." He said as his partner joined his side. "As for why I'm here Ruby, it's because we need your help."

"What!?" I said dumbfounded. "Why would I help you after what you did?" I said as I once again looked over Weiss.

"Because you fail to realize that you also need my help Ruby. By interfering in the Breach of Vale you've put you and your teammates on the shit-list of one person you don't want to be on. And now you're going to need my help in order to stay alive."

"What are you talking about?"

"I really don't feel like telling this story twice so I'll wait until the second of half of your team arrives. Which should be any minute n-

He was interrupted as he leaned back to avoid a metal door thrown from it's hinges.

"YOU!" A flaming Yang shouted.

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Slate**

"Me." I said as I turned to face Yang. She was squared up breathing heavily, eyes burning red.

"YANG!" Ruby shouted.

"Yeah you! Well I'm here now let her go or else!" She said as she chambered a round in each of her gauntlets and pointed them in my direction. Right behind her Blake landed in a crouch her weapon trained on me as well.

"Okay." I replied.

"Fine don't say I didn't warn y-what!?" She said as she tilted her head in confusion. Blake doing the same as she straightened up from her crouch.

"I said okay. Banshee untie them." I told Purpura as she dropped from the rafters and pulled out one her daggers and cut their ropes. She helped Ruby up and Ruby carried Weiss to her other teammates as they stood their confused.

"Wha-What's going on?" Weiss asked as she slowly gained consciousness.

"What's your angle!" Yang shouted as she helped hold Weiss up. Ruby doing the same. Blake stood at the ready her hands still tightly clutching her weapon.

"I've done exactly what I was planned to do. I got Team RWBY all in one place, while still sending a message." I said as I holstered Mortem.

"What do you want from us?" This time Blake asked.

"A partnership." I told them as Purpura took my side, holding SnapShot in the low ready. I looked to them as the slowly looked between each other. Ruby being the exception as she eyed my old rifle. No doubt the gun nut in her recognizing the weapon.

"Why would we ever join you!?" Weiss said between breathes, the outcome of our fight still effecting her as she was still not fully here.

"Like I've told your leader before, you need my talents as much as I need yours. Do not think your heroism during the Breach of Vale has gone unnoticed. It's quite the opposite. Your triumph have put you on the hit-list of people you do not want to be on. Dangerous people, people who have no problem killing another human. They've done it before and they'll most certainly do it again."

"W-What?" Yang asked she looked back and forth between her teammates.

"That train you caused to prematurely take off was in the works for months. Not to mention the millions of lien that was stolen in order to bribe the White Fang into working for them, let alone dust to stuff into bombs." I said.

"The White Fang would never do that! They have too much pride to simply be bought out." Blake yelled back.

I let out a small laugh and continued. "How little you know Blake. You'd be surprised how quickly someone's attitudes change when you keep piling on the zero's. I mean how would I know I only lead a large portion of them on that mission."

"You were on the train!" Yang shouted as she pointed at me in a threatening manner. "That gives us even less reason to work with someone like you."

"Well that's when I realized the error of the Fang's ways. You see when you people that you called brothers and sisters content with blindly following the orders of a person they've never seen you begin to question your loyalty. Then when you see 191 one of those very people take their last breath you begin to question your very existence. That is the number of people that died that day just to follow to the questionable orders of a man who was swayed by riches and power. And to think that nearly all of the survivors were content to head back to all over again. We'll the two of us saw the truth and we're going to put an end to it." I said as I grabbed Purpura's hand, she went rigid for a second but then relaxed.

"Like I was saying before. You need us a much as I need you. That very person who bribed the Fang into fighting for them is the very person who has you four in her cross-hairs. We can work together to take her out for good, not only will it save you four but it might just save all of Vale." I finished.

"What do you mean all of Vale?" Ruby asked.

"She's planning something. Something big, I don't have the exact details but she planning to attack under the cover of the upcoming Vytal Festival. It only makes sense, literally anyone can move unnoticed with the influx of people attending the festivities. I'm not sure what her endgame is but she's playing for keeps. Luckily she thinks that I perished during that Breach, and I can use the shadow of my death to stay under the radar and dig up as much info as I can before I make my move." I explained to them.

"Well I don't know if we should trust you but if you're telling the truth it doesn't sound like we have much of a choice." Blake reasoned as she looked to her team for any objections. Ruby then stepped forward and walked towards me.

"We'll accept on one condition." Ruby stated with firm resolve in her eyes.

"And that is?" I replied.

"Who are the two of you?" She asked.

I looked to Purpura and nodded. She grabbed the hooks on the back of her mask and released them. She then took her mask in both hands and removed it. "I'm Purpura Reign. I was in the White Fang since berth. I was an orphan never truly knowing who my parents where until much later in my life, they looked after me without a care as long as when I came of age that I would agree to join their movement. Without a second thought I accepted, it wasn't until this guy here showed me how unjust this cause was that I decided to leave as well. After all he gave me a reason to believe again. Together we'll see equality for the faunus." She said as she looked to me with a smile.

"And I believe the four of you already know me." I said as I removed my mask. The three members in the back looked a bit shocked to see my face again. "It's good to see you again Ms. Rose."

"I knew it... I knew it when I saw that weapon of yours that it was you." She said as her eyes began to water. "YOU IDIOT! Why did you have to join them! Why couldn't you just listen to me! We could of stopped them at train!" She said as she started pounding me in the chest. Tears no falling.

"You don't think I know that!" I yelled back as she stopped and took a few cautious steps back. "There's so much I've screwed up Ruby, there's so many things I wish I could of done differently! But that's why I have to do this now. If there's truly a hell I know I'm going to rot there for all eternity, but if I fix this. Maybe.. Maybe I can just end up there with a clean conscience. I have to do this now, I have to redeem myself. Not just for me. For you, for Purpura, for Bellum, for Fuchsia..." I said with a clenched fist. Purpura threw her weight into my side trying to comfort. It helped a bit as I took a deep breath and looked to Team RWBY once. "So please, let me help you. So that I can be saved."

"Okay." Ruby said as she looked to her team. The other three nodding as they walked up to me. "We'll help."

* * *

 **AN: Hey everyone sorry for the delay on this chapter, I planned for this chapter to be out last week but I wasn't expecting a 24 hour shift on a Saturday. Needless to say it got postponed a week. Now marks the beginning of the non-canon of Volume 3. For the most part it will revolve around the Vytal Festival but with Team RWBY in the know this time around. Looking forward to it, until next time. -MidKnight209**


	32. Chapter 32: Allegiance

**Chapter 32: Allegiance**

"I am the sum of all that I have done,  
I'm haunted by these inactions and what I've become" -Christopher Bartholomew

* * *

 **Vale**

 **Slate**

* * *

"Dezmond what exactly happened?" Ruby asked me as she slowly took a step forward, the rest of her team staying close.

"It's a long story and we currently don't have time to explain it." I told Ruby as I checked my scroll. "Purpura have to get going, as should you four. There's no doubt someone heard the gunshots come from our location and notified the Vale Police Department." I told team RWBY.

"But there's still so many things that don't make sense." Ruby nearly shouted as she took another step closer. "In order for us to work together we're going to need to trust one another, and understanding is one big part of that." Ruby finished as she stood right in front of me, eyes glaring full of determination.

"Ok..." I said in a sigh. "Purpura go on the rooftops and pull watch, notify me via scroll and we'll leave immediately. I'll make this quick."

"Got it Dez." She said as she threw SnapShot over her shoulder and started climbing one of the maintenance ladders to the roof. Right before she climbed the last ladder rung she turned to me with a smile and gave me a nod.

"So I'll keep this brief, we can meet up somewhere tomorrow and I'll supply you with all the answers you could ever want. If I tried to tell you now it would only leave you with more questions than answers." I said as the rest of RWBY nodded along with their leader.

"Well how about the docks, it's near the edge of town and easy to get to." Weiss said as Ruby agreed.

"No, you four don't seem to get it. We can't meet anywhere in public, I can't afford to blow this blessing of being completely off the radar. Even if one person that recognized us from the White Fang it could blow this opportunity we've been given. Purpura and I understood that this mission would take a lot of sacrifice, and if it means sacrificing having a normal social life then it will be well worth it." I said as I peeked towards my scroll, seeing no notifications I continued. "There's a forest near Beacon, the Emerald Forest if I'm correct. Most people tend to stay away from it do to the noticeable presence of Grimm. That will be our best bet for now. Here let me see your scroll Ruby." I said as to the team leader as she pulled it out.

I entered my new contact information and handed it back to her. "There I'll contact you first thing in the morning, I'll send you to coordinates to our location and we can talk then. Anything else?" I said to the team.

"Yeah. How can we be sure to trust you." Yang said, arms crossed.

"That will be up for you to decide Yang. Regardless I do not need your trust, only your cooperation. If you choose to trust me after tomorrow then good, if not then I'm sure we'll find a way to work that out later." I said as my phone beeped. "That's my signal, I have to go." I said ran to the same maintenance ladder Purpura did and climbed it. I saw her laying prone on the roof peering through her optics.

"Three Vale Police vehicles about three blocks away." She said as she stayed focused on them. "Should I take out one of their tires?"

"Not necessary we can move through the shadows of the alleyways and make our way back to the warehouse fine." I said as I threw my mask back on, Purpura doing the same. "Alright lets move Purpura!"

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Ruby Rose**

* * *

"Well what do you guys think?" Yang said from her bed as we each sat on the lower bunks facing one another. I was next to my partner as was my sister.

"I honestly don't know." My partner started, "It seems like he was telling the truth but the last time we fought on the train, he..he nearly killed me." Weiss said her hands shaking.

"What!? Weiss why didn't you say anything!?" I shouted out as my voice cracked a bit. I wrapped my partner in an embrace held her tight. It seemed like minutes passed before anyone said another word, but slowly Weiss's shaking stopped.

"Thank you Ruby." She said as she cleared her throat. "And thank you Blake and Yang for helping me out that day."

"No problem Weiss, we're teammates, we'll always have your back." My sister said as she pulled Weiss into one of her signature bone-crushing hugs. Weiss soon went blue in the face before Yang finally let her done. "This time literally." Yang joked before returning to her partners bunk.

"I was just happy I could help for once." Blake said as she laid hand on Weiss shoulder, making eye contact with her. "But like Yang said Weiss, we're teammates, and I know you would have done the same if it was me in that situation." She said to Weiss as she gave her a reinforcing smile.

"Ruby the reason I didn't tell you was because I didn't want to worry you. I'm here to prove myself, to show that I can protect myself." Weiss said slowly clenching her hands.

"Weiss we're not your father." I said to her as her back went straight.

"Wh-what!?"

"We're not expecting you to handle everything on your own Weiss, that's why we're Team RWBY. Not Team Weiss, not Team Blake, not Team Yang, not team R- well in this case not Team Ruby." I said as all of us let out a small laugh from the problem our Team name has created. "But seriously Weiss, we a team and we need all four of us to work together in order to reach our full potential. And that starts with our team leader having the complete trust of her partner and best friend." I said as a smile crept on Weiss's face.

"Thank you Ruby." Weiss said, this time she pulled me into an embrace. "I guess Ozpin was right to make you Team leader." She said squeezing tighter.

"T-Thanks Weiss." I said my face going a bright red.

"Ahem." Yang said as she coughed into her fist. "Now that the two besties have made up can we get back to the problem at hand." Weiss and I made contact and quickly broke the embrace.

"Right, well I understand what you're saying Weiss." I said still not making eye contact. "But we have to at least hear him out. If what he tells us seems sketchy we can always pull out."

"I agree with Ruby." Blake started. "From the experience I have in the White Fang I say I at least trust him a little. We we're always trained to tie loose ends within the Fang, and due to the fact that he let us all go without a second thought earlier proves to to me that he's no longer a part of them. Plus I would like to hear their latest movements, it could help us stay out of their way in the future."

"Well if Blakey's in then I am too." Yang said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Weiss?" I asked.

"Well if it is for the best then I'll concur." Weiss said.

"You'll what?" I said confused at her last words.

"I'm in you dolt." She said as she flicked my head.

"Oww. Well Team RWBY it looks like we have a new mission. Operation get some sleep for tomorrow!" I said as I pumped my hand in the air.

"Now that's a plan I can get behind!" Yang said as she flopped onto her bunk.

"Agreed." Blake said as she laid down on her bed, grabbing a book from her small bookshelf. Weiss simply nodded as I leaped on to my bunk. 'Tomorrow it will all make sense Ruby.' I thought to myself as I let sleep slowly overtake me.

* * *

"This doesn't make any sense!" I shouted as looked at the coordinates on my phone. "He said he'd be here at 1300. It's 12:13 where is he?"

"Ugh I don't even know where you get your logic from." Weiss said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. "1300 is military time Ruby, he won't be here for another 45 minutes."

"Uh-oh, my bad guys." I said as I ran a hand through my hair. "Probably should of ran that by you first Weiss. I knew there wasn't a thirteen o'clock."

 ***RRRRRRRRR***

"What was that?" Yang said as she chambered a round and faced the direction of the growling. "Come on you want a piece!?" Yang challenged as she took a boxing stance.

As if answering her challenge two trees collapsed as giant Ursa Major stepped over them. It easily stood over ten feet tall.

"Alright Team RWBY form up!" I shouted to my teammates as we stood in a V-formation. "Weiss slow it down with your ice and gravity glyphs. Blake run up and use your semblance to get around it and target it's legs. Yang you and I are going to get it's attention and keep in away from Weiss, once we have it crippled we'll all attack at once!" I said as I chambered a round into Crescent Rose. "Alright let's m-"

 ***BANG***

We were interrupted by the sound of a loud gunshot followed by several other smaller gunshots. We looked to the Ursa Major who had a large smoking hole through it's chest with several smaller holes joining it. With a small moan the Grimm hit the floor and went still. Through the smoke of the Grimm dissolving stood the figures we encountered last night, rifles still aiming at the now dead Ursa.

"Damn I knew those new Earth Slug rounds were supposed to pack a punch but damn." Dezmond said as he bolted another round before he slung it over his shoulder and began to rotate his shoulder. "Nearly dislocated my damn arm." He finished as the two walked up to us removing their masks. "Good to see you're here early." He said as he stuck out his hand.

"Well that was kind of by accident." I said as I shook his hand. "So-"

"Well where should I start?" He said as took a seat on the trunk of one of the trees the Ursa knocked over. The rest of us doing the same.

"How about what happened after the day we talked last. Before the attack on Vale." Blake said as she studied him and his partner.

"Well that is going back in a bit when I think about it, that was before I even met Purpura." He said as stood an began to circle back and forth. "Well that attack on Vale, that was in the works for a long time. To tell the truth I wasn't completely honest with you guys in the first, and for that I am truly sorry."

"What do you mean?" I asked as I looked to my team.

"When we met I was active in the White Fang, I've been in ever since I left Atlas. The robbery at the docks I was there, nearly every dust robbery that took place in Vale, I was there. I thought that maybe just maybe if I became close to you four I could lead you away from us. But I underestimated your will to do the right thing, that's when I had to make the ultimatum during the Breach of Vale."

"That you would have to hurt your friends in order to further your cause." Blake said as she stood up.

"Yes." Dezmond said as he hung his head. "If I wasn't so blind, maybe I could of stopped them before they even started. Maybe all those people wouldn't of had to die. But it's too late for what if's, they died and I had a chance to prevent it. So their blood is now on my hands." He said as he looked at his open palms, not moving an inch as he just stared.

"Dezmond..." His partner Purpura walked next to him and tried to comfort him, he still being frozen in place.

"No it isn't." Blake said as she walked towards him as he looked at her.

"How can you say that?" He nearly spat out.

"They were just as misguided and pulled along as you were. So you can't put that blame on you!" She said as she shoved him, he recoiled but still stood his ground. "At the end of the day they still made the decision to commit their actions, you didn't hold a gun to their heads and forced them to do what they did. They made the conscious decision just like you did to. So don't hold that over you, you only be digging your own grave." She said as he finally met her eyes.

"Yeah..." He said as he took a deep breathe. "That's enough of that for now. Anyways I had a someone mentoring me while we prepared for this 'master plan.' Her name was Neo, and she trained my personally while also helping me with my past demons."

"Wait the midget with the multicolored hair and umbrella!?" Yang said as she stood up her eyes a tint of red.

"That would be her, yes." He responded quickly.

"Oh.. I've gotten a score to settle with her." My sister said as she began to pop her knuckles.

"I do to. Honestly I saw a lot of her in me. To a point I idolized her, but after getting to know her for a while I understood the connection between us. She was the path of wrong I was quickly moving towards. She wasn't always a bad person but she had her own demons as well, the difference between us thought is that her demons became her, she had no one to turn to save her and she slowly became corrupted by them. After a while I slowly saw some of the good still in her and in those rare moments we shared is what ultimately helped me see the wrong I was doing. That's why I determined to get her on our side as well."

"And if she doesn't listen." Yang shot back.

"Then I'll free her from those demons." He said with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

"Continuing from where I left off, you all know what happened during the attack, sorry Weiss." He said as he sent a look, Weiss crossing her arms and looking away. "After the attack I had enough of the Fang and left, Purpura agreed to join me and we've been in hiding ever since, laying low and digging up whatever we can on the remaining presence of the White Fang in Vale and the real person behind all this."

"And who's that!?" I blurted out.

"Cinder Fall, I don't know much about the woman besides that she is dangerous. She's the one that has planned the attack on Vale, and she doesn't plan on stopping there. From what little I gathered she is planning on making her move sometime during the Vytal Festival. Ruby she's planning on starting another Great War."

"What!? Why!?" I said confused.

"I don't know, I don't know why she has in for the government and the council that unites the Four Kingdoms, but she wants to tear this peace we have apart. I don't understand her motives but we can't let her succeed." He said with clenched fists. "She's the one that has been manipulating the White Fang not to mention Roman Torchwick." He finished.

"But the White Fang would never work with another human, especially one's like Torchwick." Blake tried to reason.

"Apparently everyone has their price, some of the higher-ups in the Fang made the deal and now they're under her control. I would've stayed in the Fang in order to get close to her but it wasn't worth the bloodshed we were enacting. Now our best bet is for us to slowly trace her footsteps and strike when she least expects it. Which brings me to the subject of you four. The four of you are on her radar but she expects you to be clueless to the situation, and I need you four to play into that, she doesn't see your team as a threat and that will be her downfall. I'm going to do my best to keep the four of you in the loop, because even if she doesn't see you as a threat that doesn't mean she won't target you if she deems necessary." He said as he pulled out his estoc and slammed it into the fallen log.

"I'm not losing anyone else." He said as pulled his weapon out of the log and sheathed it.

"Just let us know how we can help." I said as neared him.

"You can help by continuing to train, do your best you can in the tournament. As long as you four stay in the bracket she won't be able to do anything to you with all of Remnant watching. And if she does Purpura and I will be there to stop it." He explained as his partner took his side. "She will not be ending this peace we live in, even if it takes a war to keep it."

* * *

 **AN: Another chapter down and working on the next. Hoping on getting it out by the end of this weekend. Sorry if the the times are weird when I release these chapters, I'm still getting used to the timezone change. As always all reviews/views/follows/favs are appreciated. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	33. Chapter 33: The Forgotten

**Chapter 33: The Forgotten**

 **"You were once the source of a pureness that can't be denied**

 **A now you curse the day, how can you leave your faith behind**

 **Just look at yourself do like what you see**

 **I want no more of you, watch me walk away" -Howard Jones**

* * *

 **Forever Fall**

 **Slate & Purpura**

* * *

"Got any movement Dez?" Purpura whispered to me as we continued to monitor the area in front of us. The wind picked up as the blood red trees around swayed back and forth from the gusts. The sun began to slowly peek its way through the thick overcast above us, a ray of light shining through them.

I adjusted the focus on my optics as I did a small scan to our two o'clock. 'Nothing, not a peep since we've been here.' "Got nothing Purpura." I whispered back as I slowly adjusted my position, the bush we were obscured in lightly rustled as I did so. Purpura responded with a sigh as she mirrored me and got into a more comfortable location. I gave her a small shoulder bump as she turned and faced me. "We gotta just be patient Purp, they'll show up, and once they do we'll shadow them to see where they're setting up shop. We got this alright?" I said.

"Yeah sorry Dez, it's just we've been here all day and we've seen nothing. Just a little annoyed is all." She said as she adjusted her optics.

"Hey it's alright, I'm annoyed too but I know they'll show their faces eventually." I said as I checked my scroll for the time.

 **'18:36'**

"I know the White Fang like to move at night but we're in the middle of a forest, they could just move whenever they- Shit! I got movement Dezmond. One click away, ten o'clock." She said in an excited but subdued tone.

I dialed up the range on my rifle as the small amount of sunlight caused the etching in the side of my weapon to brighten. _'Credo.'_ It's the name Purpura and I settled on for my weapon. It was more of a pact between than the name of the weapon. It still helped every time I used my weapon to see those words, it helped me relax, and the following shot would be on target for sure.

"I see 'em." I replied as I started to recon the targets in front of me. The White Fang members were moving in a small convoy through the treeline. Two scouts took a large lead in front of the group, scanning the area with their rifles. As they designated it was clear they gave the rest of the convoy a hand signal and they continued forward. 'Little do they know.' I thought to myself as continued to observe them.

"Wait for them to pass Purpura, once their rear security has passed we'll begin moving."

"Got it Dez." She replied as she remained focused on our target.

After several minutes the rear guards finally moved forward. "Alright let's go." I said as I shoulder Credo, Purpura followed suit with SnapShot as we moved from cover to cover in the direction of the convoy. 'These guys are just grunts but we have to be cautious anyways, their still faunus, and all it takes is one keen-eyed soldier to turn this from a recon into a firefight.' I mulled over as I un-slung Credo and began a peeked around the tree trunk. "Move forward, I got eyes on." I said as Purpura ran past several trees before stopping and doing the same for me.

She gave a thumbs up and I moved forward. We repeated this promise about a dozen time each. We stopped once we reached a large clearing and we went prone as both we trained our sights on the group. Once we were looking through our optics we could make out the figures about a half a mile away moving into a very thick treeline. "Damn it I can't get good visual Purp, I'm going to have to get eyes on." I said as I continued to try and get a good visual.

"I had a feeling it was going to come to this anyways." She said as she moved up to a kneel. "If your going in there then I'm going to at least move in a bit, I'm not letting you go in there without cover fire Dez." She said with a smile.

"Thanks Purpura." I said as I stood up and gave her a hand to help her up. She took it and we looked over our best path in.

"There." Purpura said as she pointed to the area of interest. "That brush is high enough to allow you to get close without being seen, I'll stay close behind just in case. Plus if you need to get even closer I'll be able to cover you from the edge of the brush while you move up." She explained as she pointed out the landscape.

"Sounds good to me." I said as got into position. "Alright let's move Purpura, stay tight." I said as I navigated down the clearing before hitting the beginning of the brush, Purpura staying just a step behind. I stayed low as I worked through the brush and tall grass. 'Why's everything red in this forest? Red leaves, red grass, hell red bushes. They should just call this the red forest.' I thought as I neared the edge of the brush, Purpura still behind me. As we reached the edge we poked our weapons out just enough to see through the optics. As we we're ground level we could see below the trees and make out the figures from before.

"Damn..." I heard Purpura breath out as we looked at our target.

"I guess it wasn't just a convoy, it was a supply run." I said as several dozen White Fang members were unloading the vehicles. Behind them were several large tents set up, using the treeline to obscure them from eyesight. "It's a whole damn encampment." I said softly to Purpura.

"There could hundreds of them here judging by the size of the tents, not to mention the ones we can't see." She said as she scanned the largest tent.

"Well we got the info we needed Purpura. The White Fang is still very much active, they're just laying in wait." I said as overlooked the encampment. 'So she still intends for the White Fang to play a part, just what the hell is Cinder planning?' I thought as Purpura pushed me low to the ground.

Purpura threw a finger to my mouth as I know heard a series of footsteps near the brush line. I looked to her as she simply lay completely still beside me.

"Ugh why does Adam have us patrolling so far out here? The Grimm haven't tried anything since we cleared out this area months ago." One of the grunts complained to his fellow faunus.

"It's just standard protocol man, patrol sure beats sanitation." One of the ram faunus said, his ram horns very visible atop his head. "Besides, you want to be the one who tells him you don't want to pull a duty?"

"Uhh." The boar faunus stuttered out.

"Yeah I didn't think so." The ram faunus said to the group. "Come on this is far enough, Jeremy, Ezekial let's go." He called out as we heard to figures coming through the brush right at us.

I looked to Purpura and gave her nod as we slowly reached for our melee weapons. Once in hand we stood ready as the two members neared us. One of them passed right by me and out into the open, the remaining member was on collision course with Purpura and as he was about to step on her I sprung out and pulled him into a choke hold. He squirmed as I held his mouth closed and held my blade close to his throat.

"Make a peep and I'll bleed you out right where you stand." I whispered darkly to the faunus. The man slowly nodded as he realized I had full control of him. I quickly slammed the pistol grip of Mortem into the back of his head and he slumped in my arms, unconscious. I laid him down and threw a hand signal to Purpura. She quickly ran back into the brush line and towards the clearing we used for over watch.

"Hey man what the hell is taking so long!?" I heard one of the faunus call out. "Hey what's that noise?" I heard him call out as I pulled out a nine-bang dust canister and pulled the pin. I held onto the handle and waited to throw it until last second as I heard the figures enter the brush behind us.

"Oh shit it's Ezekial, alert the others I think we have Grimm!" I heard as I pulled a 180 and brought my arm back, with all my might I threw the nine-bang as hard as I could toward the group of faunus. "What that!?"

The nine-bang exploded into a series of blasts and concussive waves. "Purpura run!" I yelled as we know sprinted through the brush with reckless abandon. "The clearing we'll try to slow 'em down there!" I yelled as we broke the through the thick bushes and ascended the hill. We each turned around as looked through our respective sniper rifles.

"Dez I think we woke up the hornets nest." She said in between breathes as I also saw what was approaching us. Dozens of squadrons of White Fang members moved towards the brush line looking for what attacked their encampment.

"We gotta get out here Purp, they don't know how many of us there are, so let's stick to plan B." I said as I caught my breath.

"We never talked about a plan B. What's plan B?" She asked confused.

"Run."

* * *

 **WHITE FANG ENCAMPMENT**

 **?**

* * *

"Sir we have a problem!" I ran in with my fellow recon squad. Jeremy carried Ezekial to the medical bay and the rest of my group stood beside me as we entered our leaders tent.

"You better have a damn good reason for interrupting me." Adam said annoyed as he turned from his mapped and faced the four of us. Each of us swallowed hard as we tried to explain our situation. I knew our leader was an intimidating man but the look he gave us froze us in place. Finally after mustering up my courage I spoke.

"S-sir we have intruders, they ambushed our patrol and are now retreating." I explained.

"What?" He said as he walked towards. "If there was an ambush why didn't you transmit it over the radio!?" He said as he unsheathed his blade and held it not a centimeter from my throat. I was afraid to even breathe as he held the blade with right hand, with his left he pulled out a radio and began barking orders.

"Attention all available combat squadrons, we have attackers to the northeast, pursue said attackers and form an one mile perimeter. Await for further orders." He said as he placed the radio back on his belt.

"You see? Easy." He said as he spun in a blur and shoved his sheathe for his blade into my gut.

I recoiled forward and onto the ground as I tried to catch my breath. I looked to my fellow members as they stared straight ahead, too afraid to move an inch. I slowly tried to push myself up but Adam's boot caught the back of neck and pushed me back into the ground.

"This will not be a problem again understood?" He said to me as he looked down upon me.

"Yes sir." I breathed out.

"Understood!?" He said as he whipped his blade towards the rest of the members in the tent.

"YES SIR!" The rest of them shouted in unison.

"Now get him out of my sight." Adam said as he finally lifted his boot and returned to the map in the room. My squad members got to each of my sides and helped me out of the tent. We looked out and saw several platoons already on their way towards the thick brush.

* * *

 **Forever Fall**

 **Slate & Purpura**

* * *

Deep breathing was all I could hear as we continued running between the trees, away from what turned out to be a White Fang stronghold. I hurdled over a fallen log as I heard Purpura do the same behind me.

Seconds seemed like minutes as we continued running, we couldn't afford to engage the enemy, less we blow our cover and lose the advantage of surprise. Plus there was just too many of them, even if they were inexperienced soldiers all it would take was one lucky blow and we'd surely be captured or worse. So that's what lead us to this crap situation as Purpura and I clambered over another fallen log.

"How...much...further..Dez!?" Purpura said between breathes as we started to traverse thicker foliage.

"Just..a...little..more." I said as we reached a small valley and slid down it, the valley lead to a large river and what would be our escape plan. "He I don't think it's ever come up but you can swim right?" I said as to her as I hunched over and caught my breath.

"Not very well." She said as I grabbed her and pulled her in with me.

"DEZ!?" She shouted as she started to flail a bit. I grabbed her arms and locked them around my neck as I pulled her over my back and began to kick with my feet.

"Relax I got you, just help by pedal with your feet." I said over my shoulder as the slow current took us down the river. The river would take us all the way back towards the Vale Harbor but it wouldn't be necessary as we would of long lost our pursuers by then.

After about twenty minutes of riding the current I guided us to the land. I helped Purpura off my back as I took a couple of shaky steps, my legs feeling the true effect of gravity.

"Thanks Dez, just next time a heads up would be nice." Pupura said as she began to ring out her clothing.

"Sorry I just didn't know how far they were behind us. I thought it would be better to apologize later." I told her as I checked my rifle, it probably wouldn't be serviceable until a good cleaning but worst case scenario I still had Mortem. I looked around to get an eye of our scenery and it looks like we were near the edge of the forest, Beacon academy just a stone's throw away.

"Hey Purpura we are going to make a pit stop."

"What do you mean?" She asked as she was now ringing out the soles in her boots.

"Well we got some solid info and we're near the area. I'm going to contact Team RWBY and have them meet us out here. Once we're done we can head back and plan our next step."

"Well we are close, okay make the call." She said as too was now looking at her weapon. I opened up my scroll and gave it was over has a shook it dry a bit. 'Thank Oum they make these things so sturdy. I mean it makes sense as they were built with huntsmen and huntresses in mind, waterproofing would be a no-brainer.' I thought as I pulled up Ruby's scroll number and called it.

It rang a few time before I finally heard her. "Um hello?"

"Ruby it's Slate."

"Oh. Is everything okay?" She asked a bit worried.

"Everything is fine, but I need to meet up with you and your team as soon as possible. We have new information."

"Oh okay, well it will be a little bit, Blake is away at the moment, where did you want to meet?" She asked as heard her rummaging through her things.

"Near the largest river of Forever Fall, I'll send exact coordinates now." I said as I pulled up the GPS application and sent them to Ruby via a text.

"Okay thanks, I'll get my teammates and we'll be there shortly."

"Sorry for the inconvenience, but this information was a bit unexpected." I said with a sigh. I honestly expected the White Fang to learn their lesson and to withdraw, I should of knew better but it was still disappointing news.

"It's okay Dezmond, what you're doing is trying to help people, and if that means I have to work a bit harder then I'll do it. We'll be there shortly." Ruby said as she ended the call.

'Trying to help people.'

I guess that does feel good.

* * *

 **AN: Sorry this one got out a bit later than I expected. Regretfully this will be the last chapter-**

 **-on my old laptop. After several years and two deployments my laptop finally gave in to the darkness. You can finally sleep now sweet prince. On a good note this is the inaugural chapter of my new laptop. Which I'm stoked about because now I can actually game on this one. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	34. Chapter 34: Parallels

**Chapter 34: Parallels**

 **"** But what wisdom is there within us, to live based on the feeling of our hearts.  
How many times has instinct let us down?  
Never to be thought through.  
Never to be questioned.  
Say what you really mean, when your ambition calls you  
For what use is there in praying, if you will only hear what you want to hear?" -Tim Lambesis

* * *

 **Team RWBY**

 **Forever Fall**

* * *

"I wish we didn't have to sneak our way to locker room every time we need our weapon. You'd think we'd be able to keep them on us since we're now allowed to shadow professional huntsmen." Yang complained as we navigated our way through the forest.

Blake lead the way as she had the best eyesight among us during the night. Yang and Weiss were behind her as I followed them, keeping Crescent Rose in it's rifle form so I could use the night vision on her scope.

"How much further Ruby?" Weiss asked as we started to hear the sound of moving water.

"Well he said he was traveling alongside this forest's largest river. So if we continue down this path we should eventually run into him." Blake said as the river came into view. Surprising enough the water was moving at a very slow pace, the current being very relaxed.

I pulled out my scroll and checked the coordinates once more. As I pulled up the map my scroll vibrated and I fumbled with it, catching it last second as I nearly dropped it.

 _"Hello?"_ I asked.

 _"We see you guys, we're just up ahead. Keep along the river and we'll meet you halfway."_ Slate said as he then ended the call.

"Was that them?" My sister asked, as the rest of my team was waiting on me.

"Yeah it was, come on they're just up ahead." I said as I now took the lead and hurried down the river. After another minute or so we reached them.

"I appreciate all of you coming out here on such a short notice." Slate started as he was taking a few heavy steps.

"What is so urgent that you had to interrupt our sleep." Weiss said in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah and more importantly what happened to you two?" Yang said as she overlooked the two of them. They were soaked head-to-toe and were completely out of breath.

"We were forced to take an... alternative measure of escape." Slate said as he rung out his clothes once more to reinforce the point.

"Escape from what? The Grimm?" I asked as my teammates shared looks of confusion.

"No the White Fang." His partner spoke up. It was a little odd, she rarely spoke and when she did it was always in short sentences. 'I don't know if its because she doesn't truly trust us yet but it's still weird.' "They have a bigger presence than we expected, we thought after the attack on Vale they'd go into hiding but-" Pupura said to the group as she Slate removed their masks.

"We were wrong." Slate cut her off " There's a reason why there has been little to no White Fang activity in the Kingdom of Vale. The White Fang isn't hiding their regrouping." He finished.

"What!?" Blake and Yang said in unison as a look of worry overtook their faces.

"But Forever Fall is so close to the city, t-to Beacon." I said as the thought of another attack on Vale clouded my thoughts.

"Why do they want to disrupt Vale so eagerly? Of all the Kingdoms, Vale is one of the more progressive when in comes to equality of the faunus. Much more than Atlas and Mistral anyways." Weiss stated to the duo.

"Personally we're not 100 percent sure either, a lot of faunus didn't survive that attack. The best Purpura and I could come up with is that they have senior leadership here and they are flipping the script on what happened in Vale. Turning the attackers into martyrs, it's what I would of done in their case if I needed to rally the troops." Slate stated as he shook his in disappointment.

"Going off standard procedures, after sustaining a loss the White Fang would fall back and work on other measures to obtain whatever the goal was, be it supplies, territory, regardless, we'd figure it out." Purpura said.

"And since they're not doing that it means an unknown factor is changing their options." Blake said as she stared off into the scenery.

"Except we know what, or in this case, who that factor is." Slate said to us.

"Cinder." I breathed out.

"Bingo. She's obviously got a tighter grip on the White Fang than I expected, a large force of the White Fang operating in Vale were affected by the failure of that attack on Vale. Which means she's using whatever influence she has to either force or blackmail Senior leadership into working for her. " Slate explained.

"And once leadership has their orders the other members have no choice but to follow them." Blake said dejectedly.

"Unfortunately this leaves me with little to no options." Slate said as he looked to Purpura. "It was one thing when it was just Cinder an her associates, but now she's rallied the White Fang and they're just as strong as ever." He finished.

"So what's the plan then?" I asked them as the rest of my team awaited their answer.

"We have to go higher up on this." Slate said.

"But Dezmond!?" His partner shouted. "If we do that we could be arrested, how can we help if we're stuck behind bars!?" She pleaded with him.

"I know, but I'd rather spend the rest of my life in a cell and atone for my actions then get into something over my head and watch this Kingdom burn down to ashes. If our information can end a war before it ever begins then I'll do it. Maybe we'll luck out once more and they'll allow us to help, hey worst case scenario we just make a break for it. It wouldn't be the first time." He finished with a small chuckle.

"Damn it Dez, your making this real hard to follow you. But damn it I said I have your back and I'm not about to go back on my word." She stated as she punched him in the shoulder.

"I guess that means we should do the same." Weiss said as she looked to the three of us. "If this has truly gotten above our heads then we should follow their lead and report it to the headmaster."

"Yeah Ice Queen here is right, I mean its not like we're just going to up stop our own investigations after we tell them what we know." Yang agreed.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt." Blake relented.

"Alright then, we're all heading back to Beacon and turning in everything we know to Professor Ozpin. I just hope we don't get suspended for this..." I said as Yang took my side and ran a hand through my hair.

"Hey cheer up Rubes, I'm proud of you, you know? Who thought my little sister could of been single-handedly been disrupting criminals for so long without any help from the authorities." Yang said trying to cheer me up.

"Well I didn't do it all by myself, I had you guys to help me."

"Sh sh sh, that's not how I'm telling the story." My sister said as she shot me a smile.

"Thanks Yang." I said as I mistakenly pulled her into a hug. The mistake being she returned the embrace full force and wrung all the air out of my lungs.

"C-ant Br-eathe." I choked out

"How cinematic." I heard Weiss say as she face palmed.

"We-iss h-elp" I muttered before a glyph separated us.

"Thanks Weiss." I said as she and Blake helped me up.

"Alright then Team RWBY plus two. To Beacon we go." Yang said as she took the lead.

* * *

 **TEAM RWBY**

 **BEACON ACADEMY**

* * *

"Soooo... we really doing this guys? There's no going back after this." Yang said to our team (plus Dezmond and Purpura) as we landed on the airport of Beacon. We were lucky enough to catch the last flight of the day but even so we would most likely be breaking curfew.

"It's the right thing to do Yang." Blake spoke up as we exited the aircraft and started walking towards the school. "Like Dezmond said earlier, this is over our heads. If we can help people by giving the information we gathered to able huntsman and huntresses then it's the best move." Blake finished as we neared the doors.

I pushed the handle of the main doorway of the academy but to my surprise it was jerked forward and I fell flat to the ground. "Owww." I said as rubbed my chin and looked up to why the door suddenly pulled open. Professor Goodwitch stood back caught off guard as the rest my teammates helped me up.

"Oh I'm sorry Miss Rose. But if I may, why are you and your team members out and about past curfew?" Our Professor said with crossed arms, her crop firmly in her right hand.

"Actually we needed to talk to you Professor, as well as Headmaster Ozpin." I said, the rest of my team nodding in support.

"Is there something wrong Ms. Rose?" The professor asked with a hint of worry.

"Actually yes Professor Goodwitch, that's why we came to speak now and not at a more usual time." Weiss spoke up.

"Very well, the Headmaster should still be up working on paperwork. If you four will come with- and who are you two?" Ms. Goodwitch said as Dezmond and Purpura made themselves apparent.

"Well ma'am, we're the reason for this sudden meeting." Slate spoke. " I am Dezmond Slate and this is my partner Purpura Reign, we've had a few run-ins with Team RWBY and we have some extremely important information to relay to this academies Headmaster and Staff."

"Run-ins?" Our professor asked confused. "Well never mind that for now, you six can explain yourself once we've reached the Headmaster's office. Come along now." She said as she motioned for us to follow her. We did so and the seven of us all entered the academy's elevator that led to the Headmaster's office.

We all waited in awkward silence as the elevator slowly lead us to the highest floor. After what felt like the longest elevator ride since my visit after the ball, we arrived.

"How goes it Glynda, oh well I wasn't expecting visitors, I would of made another pot." Ozpin said as he sipped from his mug. "How may I be of service Team RWBY and-"

"Slate."

"Reign."

"Slate and Reign, you two are not students of my academy, are you two visiting from one of the other Kingdom's academies?" The headmaster asked as he took another drink of his mug.

"No sir, but the two of us, along with Team RWBY have some information that would benefit you." Dezmond spoke as he turned to me and my team.

"Do you now?" The Headmaster said as he relaxed back in his chair.

"Y-yes sir." I said as I walked forward from the group. I looked back to my teammates as they all gave me supporting nods. "Well sir my team and I haven't been completely honest with you and the other professors."

"And whatever do you mean by that?" Headmaster Ozpin said, a small grin forming on his face as he yet again took another drink from his mug.

"Well I guess I should start from the beginning. My team and I have took it upon ourselves to investigate the incidents involving Roman Torchwick and the White Fang." I said as Blake took my side.

"Sir the reason I was involved at the docks was because I had prior knowledge of White Fang tactics and movement drills. When I was younger I was a member of the White Fang, it wasn't until the recent past that I left the organization. When I joined them they were still a peaceful organization that chose to hold protests instead of riots. That was before their leader stepped down and a new one rose, which has lead to how the White Fang operates today. I am deeply remorseful to say that I didn't leave the White Fang immediately after this change took place. It took time to show me that what we were doing was wrong, and I eventually fled, vowing to myself that I would become a huntress, so that maybe one day I could redeem myself." Blake said with her head lowered, she looked back up to the headmaster as tears ran down her face. "I'm sorry I lied to you headmaster, but please. Give me this second chance." Blake said as she with both her hands held together.

I looked to our headmaster as he sat hunched over his desk in thought. "Well Ms. Belladonna I certainly didn't expect to have this conversation with you so soon." The headmaster said as he stood up from his desk to start another pot of his coffee.

"W-what!?" Blake said in shock as she couldn't contain her outburst.

"Ms. Belladonna, our academies run extensive background searches on all of our potential students. We knew about your past Blake. Believe it or not you would not be the first person to attend Beacon with a troubled past. You performed a brave feat by using your past to fuel your future Ms. Belladonna, and that's what we're looking for in huntresses and huntsman." Our headmaster said placing a hand on Blake's back to help console her.

"Thank you headmaster. For everything." Blake said as Yang and I pulled her into a small embrace, Weiss soon joining us.

"Team RWBY thanks you too Professor, without Blake we wouldn't be a complete team." I said as we released Blake from our grips.

"Do not thank me, I've simply given you the chance to better yourself and the one's you protect as a huntress. It's up to you to embrace it." Professor Ozpin said as he walked to the other two people present in the room. "As for you two, what brings you to my Academy?"

"Sir I'll be blunt with you, we don't bring good news. It was Reign and I's intention to handle this situation ourselves, but we've reached the point to where this is over our heads." Dezmond started.

"I'm listening." The headmaster replied as he stood with a fresh mug.

"I was until very recently that I was a high ranking member of the White Fang, Reign was a member in the unit I operated in. We both were part of the train attack on Vale that happened several weeks ago, not to mention several of the attacks on Atlas property. The reason I'm telling you this is because we we're being lead astray. That doesn't make what I did forgiveable, I have full intentions on taking responsibility of what I've done." Slate explained to the headmaster.

"Those are very troubling revelations Mr. Slate, being a huntsman myself it would be of my good judgement to take you into custody." He said his face growing serious.

"I understand that sir, and if you still wish to after you hear me out then I won't resist. But first you must know of why I chose to reveal myself in the first place."

"Go on." Our headmaster said un-moving.

"The White Fang is not acting on their own accord, they we're taking orders from the man you arrested. And Roman Torchwick was taking the orders from someone else, that someone is Cinder Fall. She's been the one truly responsible for the crime that's been taking place in Vale, Roman may have been the one spearheading the campaign but Cinder has been pulling the strings."

"And who is this Cinder Fall you speak of." Ozpin said showing a very small trace of worry.

"She's your Queen you've been searching for."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry about the long delay on this one, I've been dealing with the flu for over the past week and I'm barely just starting to get out of this rut. This chapter was intended to be much longer but I've decided to cut it into two parts that way I could get something out instead of delaying even longer. Stay tuned -MidKnight209  
**


	35. Chapter 35: Villainy Thrives

**Chapter 35: Villainy Thrives  
**

 **"** The only way I depict you, is that your redemption's undeserved.  
Meet the vessel of your reprisal, retribution calls.

It's not that I take life for granted.  
It's only that the good won't make it.  
Innocence dies while Villainy Thrives." - Matt Heafy

* * *

 **BEACON ACADEMY**

 **SLATE**

* * *

"She's your Queen you've been searching for." I said to Ozpin, his form going rigid for a brief moment before recomposing himself.

"What!?" I hear the headmaster's assistant say as everyone in the room now has their eyes on me.

"Now why do you have that kind of information Mr. Slate." Ozpin says as he stands for his desks and leans into his cane.

"Sir I'm not sure if it is a leak from within your academy but this Cinder woman has a lot of information regarding not only your academy but everyone enrolled into it as well. If she seems likes she's been waiting to make her move then that is very bad news, as far as me and Reign know we're the only thing she is not expecting to see within this school."

The headmaster gives his assistant Miss Goodwitch a brief glance, and she nods and walks out into the elevator typing into her scroll.

"Well then I appreciate this extremely useful information Mr. Slate and Ms. Reign. This changes everything." Ozpin says before going into a brief moment of inner reflection. "Now then I would like to hear anything else you have to say but I'd like you to wait until two more companions of mine are present. Is that okay with you?"

"Of course, when will they be present?" I asked the headmaster.

"Well one will be here within the week, and the other will be here as soon as I can contact them." He replied.

"Well then I'll give you a way to contact me, Reign and I will lay low in Vale until we can all gather."

"Why can't you stay here for now?" I hear Ruby speak up.

"Like I said earlier Ruby, there may be some sort of leak in this academy, one thing for sure is that it isn't anyone in this room. I can't risk blowing my cover if said leaks makes me or Reign out."

"Which brings me to your four." The headmaster says as he shifts his gaze towards team RWBY. The four of them now showing a hint of worry.

"Y-Yes sir?" Ruby says, shifting uneasily.

"I commend the four of you for doing your utmost to protect our Kingdom, ther four of you went above and beyond what is expected for students of my academy, even more so for first years." The headmaster said as smiles lite up their faces, them being absolutely ecstatic for being complemented. "With that being said," Ozpin started as he lifted his hand, "I want you to leave the rest of this to the professionals. I know I can't ask you to completely give up your search as you've gone against my will before but I'm letting you know this for your own safety. The people that we are searching for have no qualms killing fellow man and woman, and I fear if you get further involved I won't be able to guarantee your safety. So Team RWBY, please be safe, I'm not only asking this as your headmaster but as fellow hunter." The headmaster finished.

Team RWBY looked among each other, sharing a few words before eventually coming to a consensus. "We understand headmaster, thank you." Ruby said as she and her team walked to the elevator, Purpura and I following them.

"I'll stay in contact, Slate, Reign."

"We'll be waiting." Purpura spoke as we joined RWBY in the elevator.

"Well that went a lot better than expected." Weiss said as we began to descend the tower.

"You can say that again." Yang agreed.

"So what should we do now?" Ruby asked, looking to Purpura and I, then to the rest of her team.

"Do as Ozpin said, it may already be too late for the four of you to stay completely out of this situation. So as long as you don't go about seeking any more trouble then the four of you should just focus on the tournament. If push comes to shove then do what you can as huntresses. Nobody will hold it against you for doing the right thing."

"Is there anything else we should know?" Ruby asks as the four of them look to me.

"Yeah but now's not the time, is there anywhere else we can talk?" I asked them as I motioned towards the elevator, now nearing the bottom.

"Yeah we can talk in our room." Yang said as the elevator stopped on the fifth floor. I handed Purpura her mask as I slipped mine on, it wouldn't hurt to be safe. After a brief moment of walking we reached their room as Ruby unlocked the door. We followed them in and overlooked the room before us, they had they're room set up in bunk beds, the two top bunks being precariously set up in their own fashion.

Ruby took a seat on the lower left bed as Yang stood by her side, Blake and Weiss mirroring them. "So is there anything else you're not telling us?" Blake asked from her bunk.

"Well so far I've told you just about everything, barring one, well two things. Cinder isn't alone. She has two partners beneath her, I don't know much else about them besides their names. Emerald and Mercury if I'm correct." I state as the four them go eyes wide.

"WHAT!?" They shout out it unison.

"What's wrong?" I ask them for them as they are still stuck in their state of disbelief.

"Their in our class! They're supposed to be part of the transfer students, with the rest of their team!" Ruby says as she looks to her team.

"Wait? What!? They're here? Well shit then we have our leak, damn her. I mean it's the perfect plan sneak them in with the transfer students, but I didn't think she'd be so bold. Wait have you seen their other teammates?" I ask the four of them.

Blake, Yang, and Weiss all shake their head but Ruby suddenly looks up. "Yeah I have, just once though, I bumped into her a couple months ago when I was grabbing my board game from the library." Ruby explained.

"Her?" I start.

'There's no way she'd risk it...'

"Ruby what did she look like?" I ask, my tone as serious as can be.

Ruby starts rubbing the back of her head as she tries to remember. "Uh.. She had long black hair I think? And amber eyes like Blake's. Why?" She finishes as my fingers dig into my palm, causing blood to drip from my hand and hit the ground.

"She's here..." I let out just barely louder than a whisper. Ruby's eyes going wide as she hears me.

"Wait she's Cinder Fall?" She asks confused at the situation in front of us.

"It makes perfect sense, the reason why the huntsman and huntresses couldn't find her. She's been hiding right under their noses the whole time, disguised as a damn student no less."

"What do we do?" Ruby asked no one in particular.

"Nothing." Purpura spoke up. "They don't know that you've made out their cover, so the best course is to do nothing. Dezmond and I will shadow them, there's no way that they could be planning this whole uprising from inside the school. She'd have to leave at some point to meet with the other collaborators, right?"

"Not necessarily, she could be already done with whatever she's planning and just be waiting for the right moment to strike. Damn it's just what is she waiting for there has to be something else, something that not even she has the answer to, but what?" I say to the group.

They look among each other, unsure of the reason she is just laying in wait. Hopefully the rest of Ozpin's allies will have more information, I just couldn't help to feel that he was still hiding something from me as well. As much as I didn't want the hunters help in the first place it looks like I'm now depending on them for any kind of answers.

"So then you just want us to act like nothing has happened? Despite all that woman has done, I say the next time we see her we just clobber her then and there." Yang says as she pounds her fists together.

"Don't underestimate her, there is a reason why she is so bold. She'll have no problem fighting a group of students and then turning tail if she really needs to, and then who knows if we'll ever see them surface again. Everything we would have worked for would've been for nothing." I explain to them as they take it with mixed reactions.

Ruby just hangs her head knowing she may not be ready for such a serious opponent. Weiss shifts uneasily, unsure of what to do. Blake sits in deep thought, clearly thinking out her next move. But Yang takes what I say as a challenge, a burning look of determination in her eye.

"So please, just act normal for now. Not just for your own safety, but for everyone else too." I say as I nod towards the window as Purpura opens it. "We have to go now, we'll be in touch." I say as Purpura leaps from the window and into the dark outside. As I'm about to step out a turn to give them reassurance. "You four will be fine, but for any reason you need to see me or talk don't hesitate to contact me. I reached out to you four because I knew I could trust you, I hope one day I'll earn that degree of belief from you." I say as I follow Purpura into the darkness outside.

* * *

 **AN: Short chapter, expect a follow up soon. In other much more exciting news, brief glimpses of Volume 4 have been shown at RTX, and man o man the hype train towards October 22nd has started. I know the animation for RWBY has gotten better with each season but damn they've really dropped the hammer on this volume, and it was still an unpolished early work in progress. Can't wait for it, but now I have a bit of a timeline. Ass I want to finish this story before then, so the good news is expect more regular updates. Until next time. -MidKnight209  
**


	36. Chapter 36: The CalAMITY pt 1

**Chapter 36: CalAMITY pt. 1  
**

* * *

 **Amity Colliseum, Kingdom of Vale**

 **Slate & Purpura**

* * *

"You sure we should be here Dez?" Purpura asked me as she fiddled with her sunhat, and readjusted her shades. She wore a plain white t-shirt with purple cargo shorts. Unfortunately we were both wearing common clothes in order to blend in with the crowd in the coliseum.

I looked down to my shirt which boldly stated 'BEACON #1' as I pulled my baseball cap a little more snug against my shades. "It's the best way to keep an eye on things, if anything were to go down we'd be right here to stop it." It wasn't too bad, being honest. I can't recall the last time I was able to just relax a bit in some loose clothing, it was nice. There will be more chances though, after this is all over the both of us could use a very long break.

"For the time being though just relax Purp, who knows when we'll be able to just sit back and take in the sights again?" I said as I leaned a little further back into my seat.

"Yeah.. Well why we're on the subject or just observing who do you think is going to win this next fight?" She asked as I looked to the board to see the fight.

 **TEAM CFVY vs TEAM ABRN**

"Hmmm well they are both second year teams, so we can rule out experience." I said as the two teams walked out from their corresponding locker rooms. Team CFVY was led by a sleek huntress who held what looked like to be a purse, behind her was a very tanned male who had some sort blades that ran parallel with his arms. Next to him was a rabbit faunus who carried some sort of box that was slung over her shoulder. And finally was the mountain bringing up the rear, he had to be at least seven feet tall and along his back he had a sword at least four feet long.

On the opposite side of the stadium was team ABRN. Leading them was I assumed their team leader, a tanned girl with very pale blonde hair. I couldn't see a weapon visible on her so I'm guessing she was mostly a hand to hand fighter who used some sort of dust to enhance her abilities. Slightly behind her was a tanned male with a bladed staff of sorts. Behind him side by side was a girl with bright green hair riding in on some sort of dust powered hover-board and slim male with a customized rifle of some kind.

The two teams meet in the middle of the coliseum exchanging glances as the randomizer determined their landscape.

"I'll take the team CFVY from Beacon, they match up well against this team." I said as I watched the arena begin to settle. One side of the stage was a thick swamp like climate that was mostly covered in ankle deep water. On the other side was a very rocky mountain environment, it wasn't necessarily large but the rocks looked very loose and made the terrain very unreliable. The girl with the hover-board would probably be best suited to do the majority of her fighting over there.

"BEGIN!" The announcer yelled out as ABRN charged CFVY.

The leader of Team CFVY Coco, thanks to the holo-screen I learned her name, shifted her purse revealing a min-gun of sorts. Team ABRN was clearly not expecting this as Nadir and Bolin skidded to halt and tried to find cover. Reese ollied over Coco and engaged Velvet. Coco kept firing at the two until Arslan launched a wire at her mini-gun and yanked it to the left, disarming her.

Velvet threw a series of kicks which Reese managed to block and evade using her board, Velvet came with an overhead axe kicked but it was too blocked as Reese fired off her board knocking Velvet to the ground. She pulled the board over head to slam the already downed faunus but was sent flying as Yatsuhashi's long sword impacted with her gut. She landed in a roll as she peeked at the screen to see her aura.

"Yep definitely going with team CFVY." I told Purpura again as she rolled her eyes. The single blow from the giant knocked Reese's aura down from 100 to 31% The green haired girl shakily got herself up as Yastsuhashi came from above to finish her off. Yet again her team leader saved the day as Arslan's chain caught his blade midair and pulled him just off course. His blade slammed next to her as the rubble from the mountain threw debris in every direction, her aura took another blow but she was still able to fight as she was still at 24%

Coco reacquired her weapon choosing to use the purse the club at Nadir. Fox and Nadir traded blows evenly as they seemed very well matched, neither able to land a clean hit. Velvet alongside Yatsuhashi as they squared off against Arslan and Reese. Reese surprisingly made the first move as she split her board and begin to fire two energy powered dust pistols at the duo. Yatsuhashi pulled Velvet behind him as he used the staggered armor on his shoulder to take most of the damage. Arslan used the cover to fire her wire yet again to stagger the man as Reese landed to clean shot knocking him backwards, Velvet leaped from behind him and she landed a flying kick right in the chest of Reese knocking her to the ground.

The stadiums buzzer sounded as Reese's aura hit below 15% making her unable to resume combat. A second buzzer immediately went off as Coco caught Nadir with and uppercut from her purse sending Nadir flying before he eventually impacted with the ground, his aura at 2%

"Now the match it 4 vs 2, in favor of Team CFVY! Team ABRN of Haven Academy is in our sour situation, let's see if they can turn the tables!" The more ecstatic announcer called out. Seeing them down two teammates Bolin threw a hard kick staggering Fox, using the brief window he created he made a beeline for the swamp, Arslan doing the same. They were going to try to use the limited visibility of the fog the swamp created to try to even the odds. Thankfully for the fans there we were at the right level to see through it, not too mention the dozens of cameras the screen displayed to give us a closer look.

Team CFVY regrouped as they slowly made their way through the swamp. Coco taking point with her mini-gun. Bolin ran through a set of trees and she opened fire, as he took cover. Fox and Velvet ran ahead to flank him but Fox stumbled over a wire that was tied between the trees as a booby-trap. Before he could recover Arslan knocked him skyward with a flaming hook, and Bolin knocked him back to earth as he leaped from the tree. Fox was stumbling as Arslan launched a kick after a series of flips as Velvet knocked her back with a kick of her own. The buzzer sounded as Fox's aura hit 13% Velvet started to fight off the two of them but was knocked to her back as Bolin's staff connected with her shoulder. Bolin went to follow up but was met with a jumping kick of Yatsuhashi. Coco soon joined the two as they all converged on Arslan, Yatsuhashi came with an overhead strike of his blade, which she sidestepped before leaning backwards to avoid the wide arcing swing of Coco's purse. Unfortunately three was too many as Velvet landed a series of quickly thrown kicks knocking her to her back. Coco stood over her as she threw her chain which wrapped around Coco's ankle, pulling her into the swamp water with her.

"Nobody ruins my outfit!" Coco's voice was caught by one of the cameras. As she hit Arslan with her purse several times. Coco's fourth hit broke Arslan's aura and she sent a heel knocking back down as statement.

Bolin was running up as Arslan fell and stopped himself as he was the only one on his team left. He took a low stance with his staff and awaited Team C_VY as he sent a bring it gesture. The buzzer sound not a second later as he was pummeled by Yatsuhashi's blade and Coco's purse simultaneously.

"And Team CFVY is victorious! The more robust announcer belted out.

The crowd left a series of cheers, and a few boo's alike as the match concluded. Overall the coliseum was absolutely electric as the match ended.

"Ah dang I was hoping ABRN was going to win." Purpura said as she crossed her arms, but still had a smile on her face. "I always wanted to see the tournament, I just wish it was on better terms." She said as we looked for any sign of foul play. 'Nothing.'

"Yeah me too, I always had this dream of being center stage during the 1 vs 1 rounds. I guess not all dreams come true though, sometimes we have to sacrifice so others dreams have a chance to be realized." I said as she grabbed my hand with hers. A light blush forming on her face.

"S-so Dez, d-do you think after all this is over that we can, can you know?"

"That we can be thing?" I responded.

"Y-yeah." She said softly. "I know it must be hard for you, after well, her. I don't want to rush you into anything if you're not ready."

I took a deep breath, but gripped her hand a little harder as I faced her. "We don't have to wait until after Purp, you're right thought it's still hard. It took me a long time to finally stop blaming myself for what happened to her but in that time I realized that it would be best not to regret what happened and to turn that regret I had into making this world a better place. And I screwed the up the first chance I got, I joined the first person that gave me a wall for me to hold myself up on. But I still don't regret that choice, that choice led me to a mentor which who helped me not turn completely to the darkness and I own it to them to return the favor. But I guess most importantly it led me to you." I said as her face went a darker shade of red. "Were it not for you talking to me on those missions I could of never left. You gave a good reason to seek help and you provided it. So thank you Purpura."

"A-Anytime Dez." She said as she pulled me into a hug. After our breif embrace we looked to the holo-screen once more as the randomizer picked another two teams.

"Now we await the randomization process!" The eccentric announcer said as the first team wheel finally stopped scrolling.

"TEAM RWBY of Beacon!" His partner announced.

"Versus TEAM MTYR of Atlas!" The eccentric called out. As my eyes went wide.

"You gotta be f***ing kidding me..."

* * *

 **AN: Boom, cliffhanger. I always love writing fighting scenes, it always just flows so much smoother then writing anything else. Anyways stay tuned for more chapters. I always appreciate the reviews/favs/follows. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	37. Chapter 37: The CalAMITY pt 2

**Chapter 37: The CalAMITY pt. 2  
**

* * *

 **Amity Coliseum  
**

 **Slate & Purpura**

* * *

"Dez what's wrong? Dez?" Purpura asked me but all I heard was muffled noise as the crowd cheered in anticipation of the next match. What the hell are they doing here? After everything that's happened this year they're still going participate in the Vytal Tournament? Did my disappearance, then reappearance or Fuchsia's death mean nothing to them. How could they be here? Hundreds of questions flooded my mind as the crowd around me cheered.

"DEZ!" Pupura yelled as she shook one of my shoulders. As I snapped out of it the arena began to pick the randomizers for the terrain.

"I-sorry, just my past always has a way of rearing it's ugly head." I said softly as fell back into my seat and took a deep breath.

"What's going on Dez?" Purpura asked as she looked over me with a somber look on her face.

"I-I'll tell you all about it later, its a long story." I said downcast, why does this shit keep happening to me? If reincarnation was truly a fact then I've done some messed up shit in a past life.

"Promise?" She asked with a small smile.

"Promise." I said as she sat down next time. I wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her a bit closer. "Now let's hope Team RWBY wipes the floor with this team."

* * *

 **Amity Arena**

 **Ruby Rose**

* * *

"Alright guys we can do this!" I said as I looked over Team Martyr. They were led by a large male who was sporting a some sort of heavy machine gun. _I wonder what kind of weapon that can shift into, if it shifts at all._ I thought as I looked at the girl to his immediate left. A red headed girl, wearing a backwards baseball cap and a matching metal baseball bat. Behind her was slender Asian looking male who held twin katanas loosely, one of which he was twirling, a cocky grin plastered on his face. To his left was the final member of their team, arms crossed with a sniper rifle hanging from a sling on his back.

 _Alright so their team has all facets of range covered._ I thought to myself as I tried to spur up an on the spot strategy. They have a sniper so that cancels out my sniper rifle. I wonder if it has a secondary form or if he is their primary support. Two of them have melee weapons so that's nothing I need to plan for other then just reacting. As for their leader it's probably best if I leave him to Yang, she'd probably like that.

"Alright guys I want us to stay together the best we can, 4 on 4 there is no one that can beat us. If we get separated Yang I want you to take the big guy."

"A challenge eh?" Yang said as she clanged her fists together with a savage grin.

"Blake you match up well with the dual katana user." I told her.

"Got it." Blake said quickly with a nod.

"Weiss you take the girl with the bat."

"A club in a tournament, this is child's play." Weiss said smugly as she rotated her dust revolver in Myrtenaster to ice dust.

"And that leaves me with their sniper." I said as Team RWBY began to take a fighting stance.

"3, 2, 1, BEGIN!" I heard Professor Port say as we ran towards Team MYTR. Their member with the sniper ran back into the thick forest portion of the fighting grounds. That confirmed my belief of him being solely a sniper. We had to push the advantage of 4 on 3 before their sniper could set up.

We need to hit them hard now.

"Bumblebee!" I yelled as Blake and Yang ran forward. Blake threw her pistol to Yang as she fired her gauntlets behind her, further launching her into the air. As Yang hit the peak of her ascent she fired behind her once more and came firing down like a meteor. The girl with the bat and the male with the katanas dove for cover but their team leader dropped his machine gun to the ground and with a flare of his aura he threw a punch skyward to meet Yang.

A shock-wave was emitted from their collision, knocking everyone who wasn't Yang or Team MYTR's leader to the ground. Remarkably they stood there as if their blows were cancelled out. They locked eyes as they were both caught off guard of what just exactly happened.

Until Blake followed with a kick to the large man's jaw, sending him tumbling backwards, Yang already pouncing on him. The second male of MYTR ran forward with his katanas and they started to exchange sword blows.

The only female of MYTR ran towards Weiss and I but skidded to a stop as she grabbed her leaders weapon and launched it towards him, he catching it as he avoided a heavy uppercut from my sister.

Weiss and I ran forward to double team the girl but I was knocked backwards as several rounds hit me in my side. _Ugh their sniper is already in position._ I thought to myself as Weiss had a glyph up blocking the rounds from hitting her, the female of MYTR trying to work her way around them.

"Weiss I'll take her, get to Yang!" I yelled as let loose my semblance, disappearing into roses as I reappeared in front of a now wide eyed member of MYTR. She tried to block with her bat but I hooked Crescent Rose around her right leg and pulled towards me, tripping the girl. I spared a glance to my team and saw Blake hitting their katana user with a series of blows causing him stumble before regaining his footwork and countering with a series of spinning kicks. Weiss was on Yang position now as MYTR's leader dove backwards to create space.

"Freezer burn!" I ordered as Weiss impaled Myrtenaster into the ground, ice flowing from the source. Yang chambered a round into Ember Celica and smashed into the ground, a thick fog now enveloping the center of the arena. Now that gave their sniper an ultimatum, he could try and wait out the fog and hope his teammates were still in the fight or he could play out of his element and try to meet us head on. Either way that left us with some time to take advantage of our numbers once more.

The girl tried to take my legs out in turn as she got up. I jumped skyward avoided her leg sweep and she jumped backward into a roll landing on her feet. Her weapon now changed into some sort of launcher. She fired a round at me as I used my speed to avoid her round, exploding where I once was. I pulled Crescent Rose to my side as I reached her with a kick, the girl blocking with her grenade launcher and shifting into her bat. I twisted my body as I swiveled like a vortex, Crescent Rose swing with me the whole time as the girl tried to keep up with my onslaught. She was able to block a few of my strikes but I was too persistent as I started to break through her defenses, my sweetheart started cutting large chunks of her aura before she caught me with the handle of her bat, knocking the wind out of me.

A large grin was present on her face as she wound up for a heavy swing. She came forward with her swing as I closed my eyes, bracing for the blow. My eyes stayed closed for another second as I opened them to the sound of the coliseum's buzzer sounding.

"And Samantha Robbins of Team MYTR has been eliminated!" I heard Professor Oobleck say as I looked at her bat frozen in a column of ice, inches away from my face. Weiss standing near me as the girl now known as Samantha was laying on the ground, holding her head in pain.

"Dolt." Weiss said as she pulled me with her towards the rest of our team.

"Thanks Weiss" I said as we neared the Yang and Blake.

"That's what partners do isn't it?" She said as she fired a series of ice shards towards the katana wielding member of MYTR. The male caught of guard as the shards hit him at the same time as Gambol Shroud knocked him backwards. He recovered slowly but ran to the beginning of the forest as their sniper took his side.

Yang caught their leader with a combination of punches, ending with an uppercut that lifted him of the ground. She took a knee and sent both of her gauntlets forward, firing them in unison into his chest as she launched him into the remaining to members of his team.

I looked to the board a saw that their aura's were all below 30% as my team all gathered on Yang's position ready to end the fight.

"We have them now!" I shouted as we all loaded fresh magazines into our respective weapons, minus Weiss.

The three members of MYTR slowly pushed themselves to their feet as they looked to each other for some sort of an answer. Their leader took the lead and leveled his machine gun towards us as it begin to shift. He pulled a belt from his backpack and fed it into the tray now present on the top of his machine gun.

"Wait is that a gun gun!?" I said out loud as he opened fire at us. The rounds exploding all around us. Weiss used Myrtenaster to throw a wall of ice between us and we retreated to the city terrain opposite to the forest as the wall was shredded apart in all but a second. Their sniper joining in their now present firing squad. Their rounds peppered us as we tried our best to get out of the line of fire.

I triggered my semblance and took cover behind the first building I could find in the terrain, immediately turning around to open fire to try and help my team. Weiss still in the open run with a glyph held behind her. Yang simply tanked the rounds as she ran in a straight line toward their two shooters. Her semblance was kicking in as I saw her aura begin to fire up around her. Blake was skirting back and forth next to Yang using her shadow clones to avoid most of their suppressive fire.

"Ice Flower!" I ordered as Weiss reached me and summoned up an ice glyph in front of my sweetheart. I opened fire at their team and they were unable to dodge in time as my rounds locked them in place.

Blake struck first as she engaged her semblance as she took both of her blades and swung them from her right to left, a shadow clone on her left side mirroring her. The 'two' struck the feet of the three members freeing them from the ice as they stumbled into each other from the blow. The went to retaliate but it was already to late as Yang came firing down from the sky. She impacted between the three of them sending them flying as a crater formed around her. The buzzer sounding as she stood up from the epicenter.

"And in a remarkable display of team work Team RWBY is the victor!" I heard Pro- err Doctor Oobleck shout as Amity Coliseum exploded into cheers. I looked up as the barrier around us lowered the full effect of noise hit us.

"We did it?" Weiss asked, sounding surprised.

"WE DID IT!" I shouted as I jumped into the air, pulling my partner into an embrace as she clearly disputed.

* * *

 **Slate & Purpura**

"A lot better than I did." I said under my breath as I stood up, Purpura following me.

"And that concludes the matches for today! Please join us tomorrow for the conclusion of the first round of the tournament." One of the announcers called out as we made our way out of the coliseum.

"Come on Purp, we have a lot to talk about."

* * *

 **AN: Well this chapter was kind of long one in the making, not so much for the fight between the two teams but more so because it was the last time Team MYTR/SLYR would have any sort of impact with the characters of Team RWBY. Good to get that chapter and now it's time to finally head into the final Arc of Believe. The downfall. I hope to have the first chapter out by next weekend but it may come a little late as it will be one of my longer chapters. Until next time. -MidKnight209**


	38. Chapter 38: Who We Are

**Chapter 38: Who We Are  
**

"This is who we are, this is what I am.  
We have nowhere else to go, divided we will stand.

We are the ugly, beaten, and torn.  
Brooding with power and ready for more.  
We are the hungry, sick of this world.  
Of robbers of thieving, of vultures unfurled.

We have been left on our own, be all the lost longing for home.  
We are the unwanted lives, strung out and angry the deprived.

We are the young, and young at heart.  
The strong and the brave that are destined to start.  
We are the change the world needs to see.  
Look in our eyes and see our belief." - Rob Flynn

* * *

 **Slate & Reign**

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

"So that was your old team then?" Purpura stated more than she asked. Slowly absorbing all the information I told her. "But why would they be fighting so soon? They didn't just lose one teammate that day. They lost two."

"Maybe there doing so the can move on, so they can try to forget what happened and get on with their lives. Oum knows I'll never forget. Maybe we didn't mean that much to them, as much as it hurts to say, a lot of teams disband after they graduate. It's not like here where you form lasting relationships, Atlas' society is just too different. Whatever their reason maybe there out of the tournament now, so I have nothing to worry about. They'll probably head home the first chance they get and that will be the end of that."

"So has the headmaster here notified you of anything yet?" She asked as we neared the edge of Beacon's school grounds. I found a large tree stump to sit and Purpura quickly took my side.

"Nothing. But I'm expecting anything at this point, he could notify us at any point and we don't have any time to waste. The sooner we can come to understanding with the senior hunters, the better." I said as my scroll started to vibrate.

"Speak of the devil and he shall appear." I said in a mocking tone as a new message appeared on my scroll. Purpura rolling her eyes at my statement.

 _'My office, ten minutes.'_

"Looks like the rest of his peers are here." I said as we made our way to Beacon's front doors as a large crowd was gathered around the front of the school. I didn't have time to gawk as we pushed through the front door and made our way to the elevator. The doors slide open ad low a behold Headmaster Ozpin and his deputy was waiting for us.

"Please go on ahead, we have a small commotion we need to handle." The headmaster's deputy said as she stormed ahead, looking downright furious with her crop secured tightly within her grasp.

"As you say." I responded as we stepped inside the now vacant elevator and made our way to the top floor. We once again stepped foot into the headmasters office, Purpura stepped to the window and looked out to the now dwindling crowd in courtyard.

"What do you think it was?" She asked as she stepped away from the window and back to my side.

"Probably just some kids trying to blow of some steam, although the courtyard is a pretty bold place to stage an altercation." I told her as we patiently awaited our hopefully soon to be allies. I could tell Purpura was a bit nervous working with these huntsmen as she took my side once more, staying quiet the whole time.

"Hey. It will be alright." I said as I placed a hand on her shoulder. She quietly nodded as she looked towards the elevator. It sliding open not three seconds later. The headmaster and his deputy soon stepped in as they were followed by three guests.

One of them I could not mistake. General Ironwood himself stepped through the elevator, giving us a small glance as he stepped towards the headmasters desk, rubbing his forehead the entire time.

Behind him was a woman dressed in a very elegant but still military styled uniform. I was correct then she was an Atlesian Specialist, once hunter graduated Atlas' hunter academy they had a choice of remaining a huntsmen or enlisting in one of three Atlas' military branches. She had snow white hair, come to think of it she resembled Weiss in way, almost looking an older relative. I'd be sure to ask her about it later. To say she looked upset was an understatement, she was down right livid as she stormed through the office in a very rehearsed cadence. 'I'm guessing she was involved in this altercation to some point.'

And last but not least, not too far behind her was an older male with black hair with streaks of gray running through them. He walked with a gait of absolute confidence, not to mention smug. Our eyes met for moment but then he returned them to the white female in the room, a large grin on his face.

"What were you thinking!?" The white haired woman yelled at the older male.

"If you were one of my men I'd have you shot." The General said sounding annoyed.

"If I were one your men I'd shoot myself." The man said as reached into his pocket, pulling out a flask.

"While I wouldn't condone his behavior, the retaliating the way you did certainly didn't help the situation." The deputy said as she stood opposite to the older male.

"He was drunk!" The aggravated woman said.

"He's always drunk!" The deputy sounded back as they looked to the older male, not helping his case as he was downing whatever resided in his flask.

"Qrow, why are you here?" The headmaster says as he takes a seat back into his chair, doing the best he can resolve the situation.

"You've been out of contact for weeks! You can't just go dark like that in the field!" The General barked out at the man now known as Qrow.

"I'm not one of your special operatives, Jimmy!" The man shouted back at Ironwood.

"General." The white haired woman corrected Qrow.

"Whatever." Qrow said as it sounded like he really didn't give a damn about the Ironwood's position. "You sent me to get intel on our enemy, and I'm telling you, our enemy is here."

"We know." The General said as he looked to the rest of the members in the room, including us, and leaned against the headmaster's desk.

"Oh! Oh, you know! Well, thank goodness I'm out there risking my life to keep you all informed!" Qrow shouted at the four, slowly losing his cool facade.

"Qrow.." The General started before he was cut off.

"Communication's a two-way street, pal. You see this?" Qrow said as he pulled out his scroll and pointed to the the screen. "That's the SEND button!"

"They had reason to assume you'd been compromised." The white haired female said as she stood with her arms locked in the swell of her back.

"And I have reason to assume you don't need to be here. Seriously, who invited her?" Qrow said as he looked to the three elder huntsmen. Then to the two of us.

The General took a deep breath before turning towards the woman. "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back at my ship."

'Schnee? Well that confirms my belief in her being related to Weiss, so she was either a cousin or a sister possibly then.'

"But sir!?" The woman known as Miss Schnee asked either a bit hurt, or confused at the General.

"Winter. Leave." The General now ordered her.

"Yes sir." Winter Schnee said as she saluted the General before literally marching towards the elevator, before pausing she reached Qrow, giving him a 'sod off' look before continuing into the elevator. Pulling an about face she hit the elevator switch and the door closed.

"And who are these two runts?" Qrow asked as he pointed a thumb in our direction, refusing to look at us. The General unfortunately for once agreeing with Qrow as he looked to the headmaster and headmistress for answers.

The headmaster began to speak up, but I took the initiative. "We're the reason this meeting is being held." I said as I stepped forward, Qrow and Ironwood now looking towards us.

"Oh are you." Qrow said a bit annoyed. "And why would that be?"

"Cinder Fall." I said as Qrow stood silent for a second before giving me a small grin and shrugging his shoulders in mock surprise.

"Go on." The General said motioning to Qrow and I.

I went to speak up but Qrow beat me to the punch. "Your little infiltrator isn't just another pawn. They're the one responsible for Autumn's condition." Qrow said as he turned to the others.

'Autumn?' I asked myself, Purpura doing the same. We had valuable information, but it seems like Qrow had just as much.

"What?" The deputy asked in more or shock than confusion.

"Despite what the world thinks, we're not just teachers, or generals, or headmasters. The people in this room, the leaders of the other two academies, we're the ones that keep the world safe from the evils no one even knows about! It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows." Qrow said as walked up to the General. "So you tell me, James, when you brought your army to Vale, did you think you were being discreet, or did you just not give a damn!?"

"Discreet wasn't working." The General said as he placed his scroll on the headmaster's desk. The scroll linking up with the desk and a hologram of the city was displayed in the room. It showed several large airships over-watching Vale, small squadrons of smaller airships running patrols. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."

"You're here because Ozpin wanted you here!" Qrow said sounding beyond annoyed. "He made you a part of this inner circle and opened your eyes to the real fight that's in front of us!"

"And I am grateful." The General quickly responded.

"Oh, well, you've got a real funny way of showing it." Qrow said with a snort.

"The people of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they look to the sky and see my fleet, they feel safe, and our enemies will feel our strength." The General responded pointing to the massive air force displayed.

"You...you think they're scared of your little ships?" Qrow said with a small laugh. "I've been out there and I've seen the things she's made, and let me tell you. They are fear." Qrow said growing serious.

"And fear will bring the Grimm." The headmaster said standing up, seeing the tension and doing his best to diffuse it. "A guardian is a symbol of comfort. But an army is a symbol of conflict. There's an energy in the air now, a question in the back of everyone's minds. "If this is the size of our defenses, then what is it we're expecting to fight?" He finished as I let his words hit me.

'They've been expecting this war haven't they? Just who are these people, and how much do they know that we don't? Just how far in the dark were we? And if we're this far in the dark just how much further was the general populace?'

"So then, what would you suggest we do?" The General said as removed his scroll from the headmaster's desk.

"I suggest we find our guardian." The headmaster said as he stood up from his desk. "That will be all for tonight. Slate, Reign I will stay in contact. I'm sure just as many questions as answers were created tonight. All will be answered in time, for the time being I want you to continue to observe for the tournament for any sign of our enemies movements. At the conclusion of tomorrow's tournament events I will contact you. We'll explain more tomorrow." Headmaster Ozpin said as he gestured towards the elevator.

"It will be done." I said as Purpura nodded and we made our way inside. As the doors were about to close, Qrow kept the door open with a large sword and stepped in, placing the weapon on his back.

"So how much do the two of you really know?"

* * *

 **AN: The lines are starting to be drawn as the blurry picture slowly comes into focus for our two protagonists. Stay tuned for more. -MidKnight209  
**


	39. CHP 39: In The Presence of My Enemies

**Chapter 39: In The Prsence of My Enemies  
**

"I never ask myself why injustice befell me.  
Accepted of the fact, try and live a life of peace.  
I'm not a violent man, but to those who'd threaten me.  
My enemy, for my family I'll show thee.  
Death I will fight you to.  
Wrath provoked you cannot bear.  
Our lives are not your toys.  
Mercy, not a drop to spare." -Robert Flynn

* * *

 **Slate & Purpura**

"What do you mean?" Purpura was the first to speak as the elevator hit the ground floor. The door opening as the man known as Qrow motioned for us to follow him. I gave Purpura a look, she doing the same as I nodded to her and we followed the huntsman. I'm not sure if he trusted us, admittedly with good reason. Of all the information we just received it would be expected of him to be hesitant around us. We followed the man through the school as we soon reached one of the rear exits. He lead us to a wooded area, as Purpura and I nervously followed. Finally after a moment of walking he looked to his left then right and then took a deep breath.

"I'll say it again." He started before pausing to take a drink from his flask. "How much do you really know?" The older man said as he turned and faced us. A grim resolve in his red eyes.

"Know about what?" Purpura spoke up again.

"I'll be honest I've been out of the loop for a while now. When your out in the field there's not too much else that matters, your focus is there and there only. So I'll cut to the chase. How much has Ozpin told you?" Qrow demanded a little bit more than he asked.

"As much as you've just heard." I told the man, there was no point in being dishonest with the man. If he was one of Ozpin's field agents then he would have no problem wiping the floor with us. "This is only the second time he's ever given us any solid information." I told the man.

"We only met with him once before, when we revealed ourselves along with Team RWBY." Purpura followed.

"What does a junior year team have to do with this?" Qrow said to Purpura his gaze fixed on her.

"Well we had several run-ins with them back before what we were doing was wrong. They helped us in that decision." She said before looking to me.

"Unfortunately we've had several run-ins with them that caught the White Fang and subsequently their de-facto leader's attention. Since they in a way helped us escape from their grasp, I decided we would do what we could and help them out. It happened to work out better then expected, especially so since we have the same enemy." I said.

"Cinder huh?" Qrow said as I nodded. He took another small drink from his flask. "The name fits her, at least what she's trying to start. I'll tell you now kid if you didn't know already, and knowing your past, you most likely do. Remnant is an unforgiving world, a large portion of the people think it's just black and white. Grimm versus Mankind. If it were so easy." He said as he sighed. "There's been a war ongoing ever since the last one ended." He emphasized with quotation marks.

"What do you mean?" Purpura asked as she looked towards me with a face full of confusion.

"You think the White Fang was the only one who didn't like the outcome of the Great War? You forget kid, there's always a losing side. Sometimes they can see what they did was wrong, others think they were the ones that were right and that they just weren't strong enough or had enough of a backing to make a change. Then there are those who hold resentment, letting it build within them and through time they spread it through the generations until one day that spark ignites once again. But you'll hear more about that in due time, right now you two need to follow up with Ozpin's orders." He said as he began to walk away into the sunset, before turning around once more. "And don't worry about trusting Ozpin, he might seem secretive but he holds only the best of intentions. I'll see you two soon." He finished as he walked off, leaving us in deep thought.

Man this has gotten a lot deeper than I thought it could ever be. At first I thought it was someone who just resented the Kingdoms for something that could of personally happened to them. But after what Qrow told us this wasn't just a single persons intentions, this was something that festered for decades, nearly a century. It was possible that this was an entire faction of people unified by their loss so long ago and Cinder was just the spearhead.

Which created a whole new problem. If Cinder was potentially just the tip of of the spear, who was guiding it?

"What should we do now Dez?" Purpura asked as she slumped a bit against one the nearby trees. Clearly the information put out to us wasn't anything to be motivated by, but in the very least we knew now we could trust Ozpin.

"Let's go get some rest, we'll do like we said earlier. We'll keep an eye out for anything out of place at the tournament, the 2v2 rounds begin tomorrow so we'll keep an eye out for team RWBY and any of the other Beacon teams." I said as she nodded, and headed back to our temporary abode in Beacon.

* * *

 **Vytal Festival**

 **Slate & Reign**

* * *

"And Team JNPR is victorious!" The announcer known as Peter bellowed out as the match concluded.

It was a lot closer of a much than I expected as Team JNPR were heavy favorites to win. Team SSSN put a good fight but in the Nora Valkyrie and Pyrrha Nikos of Team JNPR proved too much for Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasillias of Team SSSN. To my suprise it was the faunus that helped Blake out during our run in at the docks all those months ago, it seemed like you couldn't throw a stone without hitting some sort of huntsmen these days. Which brought my attention to the upcoming fight.

"Would Team RWBY and Team FNKI please take the stage!" The 'doctor' called out as the four contestants took the stage. Yang and Weiss congratulating Nora and Pyrrha as they walked by. There selection for the doubles round caught me by surprise a bit. I thought for sure Blake would be one of the choices, as she had more true fighting experience then the other three of RWBY. But Yang and Weiss could compliment each other well, Yang would be the tank of as usual and Weiss would use her glyphs to make Yang even stronger, which was scary in its own right.

"Contestants take your positions!" The 'doctor called out as I looked towards the board. Neon Katt and Flint Coal of Atlas huh. I never remembered seeing these two around Atlas in the time I was present. They must of been first years as the school tended to keep the years seperate from each other, Atlas was never truly a school that formed bonds like it seemed Beacon did, most huntsmen going their own ways after graduation.

"Begin!" Peter yelled Flynt from Team FNKI used a saxophone that harbored the power of dust began to fire a torrent of wind at Weiss and Yang. The faunus of FNKI used the wind at her back to speed up and knock Yang back towards the industrial section of the arena. Smart of them, they were better of trying to fight them one-on-one as Yang and Weiss combined would be hard to overcome.

Weiss tried to power through Flynt's wind as she dropped a gravity glyph towards her feet and slowly pushed through the gust. Flynt noticed though and stopped his whirlwind and Weiss was thrown forward and caught with a kick, she stood up switched the dust revolver on her rapier. A dust user vs a dust user, this should be interesting as I turned my attention on the other fight taking place in the arena.

Neon from FNKI used her speed and what may have been her semblance to create a blurring affect behind her to pester Yang, hit her from every-what direction as she blurred via the speed her skates created. Yang took a series of hits from the girl, as the faunus started to use ice dust to hold Yang in place. Yang needed to find a way to knock this girl off-balance, she was too fast zooming around to get a clean hit on her. If this kept up Yang would soon be out of the match. After another couple of hits Yang's semblance began to show as her hair soon began to shine a bright yellow as her figure began to be obscured by a flame.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" I heard Yang yell as Neon began to obviously get under her skin.

Meanwhile Flynt and Weiss traded blows created from their respective dust attacks. Flynt sent another torrent of wind toward Weiss, which she in turn match with the wind created by her rapier. While she held her ground with Flynt, Weiss took her other hand and sent a series or glyphs in a circle surrounded Flynt. She stopped her flow of wind dust a disappeared striking in a near instant from each glyph she created, knocking Flynt back and forth as he couldn't keep up with her strikes. Finally he saw a pattern she was using as she attacked him counter-clockwise. He triggered what had to be his semblance as three copies of himself, only differentiated by color, hit Weiss with another gust of wind.

"What's this?" The announcer Peter called out.

"It appears young Flynt has just activated his Semblance! And quite a remarkable one at that. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes on Flynt Coal's Killer Quartet!" The doctor said as Weiss was thrown backwards and onto the ground as his torrent was too much.

Weiss' rapier was thrown from her and she tried to crawl to it, but as she reached it Flynt stepped on it and kicked it away from her as he focused his attention on his remaining foe.

Neon was circling Yang as she was doing her best to unnerve her. It was clearly working as Yang's semblance continued to fuel her. Not sure if that's the best move, purposely pissing Yang off.

Flynt with his attention focused on the distracted Yang activated is semblance once more and readied to hit her with an another gust of his wind. Weiss on the ground seeing this did the only thing she could do and tackled Flynt to the ground and right on top of one of the small hills of lava. A puff of smoke obscuring the two of them as the arena's buzzer sounded.

"What!?" I heard Yang yell as she looked behind her as the smoke carried into the air.

"It appears we have a double knockout on our hands!" Peter called out as he tried to see into the cloud of smoke created.

"In fact, it looks as though Miss Schnee's Aura has been completely depleted! She sacrificed herself to take out Flynt! Wait a minute. What's this!?" The doctor said as the smoke cleared. From the smoke Flynt stood up, nearly falling over as he was clearly was low on aura. Weiss laying in the ground covered in layer of soot.

"Ladies and gentlemen, Flynt Coal remains standing!" Peter yelled out over the speakers. Flynt with his composure regained now walked towards his teammate, looking extremely pissed off, and took her side.

"Ooh, looks like Yang's angry! And you wouldn't like her when she's... upset." Peter said as Yang stepped into the ground as her semblance completely took over. A crater resulting from said outburst as she ran towards the two members of Team FNKI.

Flynt fired another gust of wind to help boost Neon, as the faunus weaved and dodged through Yang's attacks. Yang threw her rounds from her gauntlet forward throwing Neon behind her, also ripping up the arena in the process. With Neon behind her Yang stormed towards Flynt as she fired her gauntlets behind her and jumped into the air. She came rocketing through the air as Flynt triggered his semblance once more to try to meet her. Yang was slowed by his semblance but she continued to fire behind her, powering her forward. She eventually reached him and blocked the pipe to his saxophone and hit him with another round of her gauntlets.

It was more than enough as he flew backwards, the buzzer sounding in tandem with Yang's blow. It was now one-on-one as Yang faced Neon sending more shots from her gauntlets towards her. A few hit close but Neon was just trying to keep her balance as she tried to weave through the now ruined terrain of the arena. She was doing well until a close round of Yang's created a small crater in front of her, resulting in her roller blade wheel getting caught. She tripped and started to tumble down the hill until she hit a geyser that launched her in the air. A grin formed on Yang's face as she fired a round right at her. Neon screaming as she saw the incoming fire round. It impacted her as she erupting into a cloud of glitter. Almost like a firework as the arena's buzzer rang for the last time of the match.

Yang taking a deep breath before she ran towards Weiss. Ruby and Blake jumping from the stands as they do the same. Weiss seeming to be okay as her team helps her up before they have a small talk with the losing team, there seems to be now bad blood between them as they shake hands in a normal matter.

"And that is the final match of the day! We hope to see you back tomorrow for the beginning of the 1-on-1 finals!" Peter called out as the stands began to file out.

All in all today was nothing to note of as far as anything out of the usual. Emerald and Mercury fought Team CFVY of Beacon for the first match but it was nothing out of the regular. They were very skilled fighters, as expected, but they didn't do anything to warrant any worry. As far as a could tell the fought fair and square. Mercury seemed to be a very upfront fighter, specializing in kicks. His weapons he utilized were a pair of grieves, in which he was quick, very quick. He also chose to chamber wind dust rounds in which he could fire every time he threw a kick. And in one instance a moment where he looked like he was break dance but he created a near tornado of wind rounds in which he could guide toward his opponents. Whether it was is semblance was unknown, I'd have to keep a close eye on him to gather further information.

And then there was Emerald. She seemed like a capable fighter but she appeared to capitalize of the element of surprise, utilizing the terrain around her to catch Coco of Team CFVY off-guard numerous times and ultimately defeat her. As far as fighters went, Mercury was projecting himself as the more skilled individual. I wasn't going to write Emerald off though, there was a reason Cinder chose her so I'd have to monitor her more as well.

Purpura and I stood up from our seats and began to walk towards Beacon as my scroll buzzed.

Oz: _Please join me tomorrow morning in my office._

"Who was that?" Purpura asked as we walked towards our temporary room in Beacon.

"It was the headmaster, he want's to see us tomorrow morning. Hopefully this time he has more answers."

* * *

 **AN: Another chapter down as we all know what direction the story is about to take place. Fall, this is where as hard as it was to watch what happened to our protagonists of RWBY, the show really hooked me. I was a fan of the show until this point but the last half of the season has made one of my favorite anime's period. (Yeah I consider it an anime, get over it.) So until next time -MidKnight209**


	40. Chapter 40: Overburdened

**Chapter 40:Overburdened**

"There's the closing of the curtain, in the play that was my life.  
Countless chapter's left unopened, tragedies inside.  
I've was fighting for a reason, holy blessed homicide.  
Seems I have committed treason, all I've sacrificed" -David Draiman

* * *

 **Beacon Academy, Headmaster's Office**

 **Slate & Reign**

* * *

"Well, it comes as no surprise that they've chosen you to move on to the final round of the tournament. Your performance was exemplary." The headmaster spoke to his student Pyrrha Nikos as Purpura and I accompanied Qrow near the back of the room.

The headmaster called us here to meet this morning saying if we wanted to truly help their cause then we'd need hear the truth of this situation we were in. I asked him to elaborate on that but he said everything would be made clear once one of his students arrived.

So there we were sitting in the background alongside Qrow, listening for any pertinent information the headmaster chose to reveal. He was an interesting one this Ozpin, he seemed very secretive yet not dishonest. It seemed he liked to put out just enough information to keep people on their toes, never truly receiving the full picture. Not many people were like, and at this point I would of preferred he just be frank with us. But we were not in any position to be making any demands from him. We'd take what we could get and drive on.

"Thank you Professor Ozpin." Pyrrha spoke up, interrupting me from my thoughts. "But I would have never made it this far without my teammates." She said very politely. So this was the world renown 'Invincible Girl.' I was honestly quite surprised at first, despite her undefeated track record she still seemed to be rather humble. Most, if not all, people in her position would have let the publicity or nature of being undefeated get to them. But she still remained a humble attitude, thankful for just being part of this event.

"Personally, I think it's the other way around." Qrow stated the obvious, as much of the jerk vibe he put off he was never out of place. As much as Ozpin was vague, Qrow was direct. He didn't ever beat around the bush. I respected that.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe we've been introduced." Pyrrha said as she stood out of her chair and faced us. Doing her best to remain unaffected from the comment Qrow made.

"Name's Qrow."

"Slate."

"Purpura."

"They are trusted colleagues of mine." Ozpin said bringing Pyrrha's attention back to him.

"Professor, if you don't mind me asking, why have you called me here?" Pyrrha asked as she spared the three of us a glance.

"Please, take a seat." Ozpin says quelling the rising tension in the room as Pyrrha follows his suggestion. "Tell me, what is your favorite fairy tale?" Ozpin asks.

"I'm... sorry?" Pyrrha asked a bit off put by the question. Purpura the same as she looks to me with a raised eyebrow. I replied with a simple shrug and turned my attention back to the headmaster. 'Here he is being vague again.'

"Fairy tales." Ozpin continues. "Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some of them."

"Well... there's The Tale of The Two Brothers, The Shallow Sea, The Girl in the Tower..."

"What about The Story of the Seasons?" Ozpin asks.

"Well, of course! A callous old man, who refuses to leave his home, is visited by four traveling sisters. The first understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers, tending to his crops and revitalizing his garden. The third warms the man's heart, convincing him to step outside and embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has, and be thankful. In return for their kindness, the man grants the maidens incredible powers, so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accept, and promise to share their gifts with the people of Remnant 'til the end of days. Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall; the four maidens. My mother loves that story." Pyrrha recounts happily.

It wasn't my first time hearing the story as it was a very popular one for children to hear from their parents. I was never so fortunate and heard the story from my friends when I was growing up. I never knew many of those childhood fantasies but that just part of being raised in a toxic environment. I still remember pulling an all-nighter the day I turned 17. I practically sprinted to the nearest recruiting center, I signed the dotted line that day.

"Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin said with a bit of humor causing Pyrrha to chuckle.

"You're not that.. old, Professor." She replied.

"Well, would you believe me if I told you it was true?" Ozpin said as he switched tones, his voice becoming serious.

"I- I beg your pardon Professor?"

"What if I told you that there were four maidens existing in this world, that could wield such tremendous power, without Dust?" He continued as this time I sent Purpura a look. Qrow saw this and let out a small sigh.

"You mean... like a Semblance?" Pyrrha asked confused.

"Like magic." Ozpin stated with a small smile as he leaned forward over his desk.

"I..." Pyrrha started but stopped as she was at a loss for words.

"Yeah. First time hearing is always pretty crazy." Qrow said stepping forward.

"You're serious?" Pyrrha asked still confused as she looked between the headmaster, Qrow, and Purpura and I. The two of us just as confused as her.

There was no way something this was true, magic? That was to easy of an explanation for how things like the seasons came to be. They were fairy tails, things you told children to help them sleep easier at night.

"Do I look like I'm joking?" The headmaster said as he focused his glare on the girl in front of him.

N-no. Why... why are you telling me this?" She asked, as she attempted to cut to the chase.

Ozpin sent a look at Qrow, who responded with a nod. "We are telling you this, Pyrrha Nikos, because we believe you are next in line to receive the Fall Maiden's powers."

"We"? Pyrrha asked the elevator to the office chimed. General Ironwood and the Headmistress Goodwitch stood inside.

"Sorry we're late." The General said as the two stepped into the office.

"Wait, what is this? Who are you?" Pyrrha asked defensively as she tried to get a grip on her situation.

"You know who we are. We're still the same teachers and Headmasters you met when you arrived at Beacon." Goodwitch said as she tried to console the girl. Purpura wasn't doing much better as she was just as confused at the situation that was laid out in front of us. And me? Well this was just FUBAR. I knew that letting my emotions get out of control wouldn't help me any though, so I remained quiet. Taking whatever information I could get, I'm sure they had more answers so I'd remain patient.

"But we've got a little part-time job." Qrow said as he took his place beside the General and the Headmistress.

"We are the protectors of the world." The General said with his usual flair.

"And we need your help." Ozpin said looking into Pyrrha's eyes. "Please come with me if you would?" He states as all of us pack into the elevator.

"Where are we going?" Pyrrha asks she looks between all of us, looking for some sort of comfort.

"The vault. Under the school." The headmaster says as the elevator works its way down the levels of the Academy.

The doors open revealing a vast expansion that is 'The Vault' beneath Beacon Academy. It is admittedly much larger than I could have ever anticipated. The Vault was lit dimly by dust lanterns in an odd green hue for whatever reason, the room reminded me of being in a swamp near sundown. Large pillars and lanterns were aligned in a row that lead to some sort of machinery near the end of the only pathway.

"I'm sure you must have questions." Goodwitch spoke up pulling the three of us from our awe. We now stood back with Pyrrha as were in just as much shock as her. She seemed to notice this and took a small amount of comfort in that as she stayed by our sides as we began to walk forward.

"Maybe one, or two... " Pyrrha said as she continued to look around the Vault. "I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the Maiden's power. What do you mean by that?"

"The Maidens have existed for thousands of years. But much like in nature, the seasons change. No two summers are alike. When a Maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost, and that no individual can hold on to that power forever." Goodwich explained as we made our way down the pathway.

"So, how does this power choose?" Purpura spoke up, catching Pyrrha off guard. It seems she had enough of being in the dark as well and wanted answers.

"Through a series of stupid and convoluted rules." Qrow said annoyed of his shoulder as he continued leading us towards the machinery.

"Qrow." Goodwitch said just as annoyed.

"Hey, don't get mad 'cause I'm right." He said.

Glynda looked to the three of us and continued. "At first, the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, it was discovered that the selection process was much more... intimate."

"Intimate?" Pyrrha asked.

"As we understand it now, when a Maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her power." Goodwitch continued.

"Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then the power goes to someone random, and our job gets a lot harder." Qrow said as he stuck his hand in his jacket and pulled out his seemingly never ending flask.

"Why tell me all of this now? Why not wait until I've graduated?" Pyrrha asked the elder Hunters in the room. She clearly was not ready for all of this information and the reason why to the rest of us in the room the answer was crystal clear. There isn't time.

"Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you've noticed, but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. Tensions are high. Grimm are growing stronger, more prevalent. And it's not going to be long before the peace we've been enjoying for so long goes out the window." Qrow stated.

"You're not... talking about a war?" Pyrrha asked a bit unsettled.

As someone who's never been part of one she didn't understand, and she was right to be scared. War isn't something you take likely. Purpura and I were lucky to get alive like we did. But that was the nature of war, a dumb thing like being in the wrong place at the wrong time can decide if you live or die. It was the nature of the beast, and if you're getting thrown into one it could be a horrifying experience.

"Not a war between nations." The General spoke up, doing his best to lessen her wariness.

"We can fill you on the details once we know that you're with us. For now, all you need to know is that one of the Maidens has been attacked. And for the first time in history, part of her power was stolen." Qrow said which caused me stop in my tracks.

The veil that has been fogging my life the past few months finally cleared. There was only person bold enough to do something like attack essentially a demi-god. Cinder. This was the power she was seeking, in wasn't any kind of methaphorical power that was created once you held some sort of title or position. It was very real power, this so called magic that was granted to these Four Maidens. This was the power she craved. And now we had to stop her.

I slowly regained my pace as we neared the end of the pathway. Two machine stood out in front of the rest, they looked like some sort of medical pods. It wasn't until I got up to them did I realize the pod on the left harbored a young woman. Some sort of ink like scar marred her face but at least this machine found some way to keep her from the pain that mark caused.

"Is that..." Pyrrha asked as she stepped up to the medical pod.

"The current Fall Maiden, Amber." Ozpin said with a sigh, obviously seeing this woman in that state disheartened him as well.

"She's... still alive." Pyrrha said as she noticed the slow, but still rythmatic heartbeat of Amber.

"For now." General Ironwood spoke up. "We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable. But there is a lot about this situation that is... unprecedented."

"What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked cautiously. Looking to General for an answer. "Won't... her power... just transfer to the next host?" She followed up.

"Look who's been listening!" Qrow said earning an angry glare from Goodwitch. "She is smart."

"Under normal circumstances, yes." The General continued. "But this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be of their attacker. And to make matters worse, no one's seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out its other half."

"Her assailant." Pyrrha said as everything started to click.

"And that would not bode well for any of us." Ozpin said as he faced Pyrrha.

Pyrrha walked up to Amber's pod and placed a hand on the glass, sorrowful for the girls coming end. "If all of this is true, why keep it secret!? If this girl is so important... if we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell everyone!?" Pyrrha yelled as this situation did not sit well with her.

"From what we understand, it used to be common knowledge." Goodwitch spoke up trying to calm her down.

"Excuse me?" Pyrrha said a bit surprised. Her anger diluted but still present.

"How do you think legends and fairy tales get started? Even the craziest ones come from somewhere." Qrow said as he took another long swig from his flask.

"Our group was founded in order to protect both mankind and the Maidens. Those hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength." Goodwitch explained to Pyrrha, and indirectly Purpura and I.

"And as you can imagine, the ones that succeeded weren't exactly the ones you'd want to have unimaginable power." Qrow said.

"And so our brotherhood chose to remove the Maidens from the public eye, allowing their existence to fade away into legend." The General backed up.

"The things we're telling you go against hundreds of years of human history and religion." Goodwitch backed their words.

"No one would want to believe us. It would cause an uproar." The General spoke up once more, further emphasizing the delicate situation we were in.

"It would cause panic. And we all know what that would bring to clawing at our Kingdom's walls." Ozpin said as he faced Pyrrha. "Which is why we would like to..."

"I'll do it." Pyrrha says immediately, catching the elder hunters off guard. "If you believe that this will help humanity... t-then I will become your Fall Maiden. That's what you wanted, isn't it?" Pyrrha states to the room.

"It is, but I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to inherit her power naturally. However, General Ironwood believes he has a solution." The headmaster explains as he shifts the conversation back to the General.

"For the past few years, Atlas has been studying Aura from a more scientific standpoint; how it works, what's it made of, how it can be used. We've made... significant strides. And we believe we've found a way to capture it." The General said with a small amount of pride in his Kingdom.

"Capture it and cram it into something else." Qrow says as he motion towards Pyrrha. "Or in your case..."

"That's- Pyrrha starts before she is cut off.

-Classified." The General concludes.

"-wrong!" Pyrrha says a bit teary eyed.

"The feeling is mutual." Goodwitch starts "But desperate times call for desperate measures."

"And these are indeed desperate times. We can't transfer Amber's power to you, but we can give you what those powers are bound to." Ironwood states.

"Her Aura." Pyrrha says, now realizing this will end any chance at saving Amber.

"Her life would become intertwined with yours. The question is..." The headmaster asked everyone in the room.

"What's that going to do to you?" Qrow answered.

"You have an important decision before you, Miss Nikos. There's no guarantee this transfer will work. And there's no telling if you will be the same person if it does. I advise you to take time on this matter. But understand that before the Vytal Festival is over, we will need your answer." The Headmaster tells her.

'He's giving her a choice to accept in or not. But in reality the decision has been already made, if she were to turn it down who would they ask next? Another student who'd essentially have to give up their life in order to gain this power and potentially save the kingdom.

"The assailant that attacked the Fall Maiden has made their first move. And there's no telling when their next move will be." Ozpin says as he gestures us back towards the elevator.

"Glynda if you would." Ozpin says to headmistress as she nods and leads us back into the elevator. If the ride down to the Vault was awkward and quiet then the ride back up was just damn depressing. I swear I could hear the thoughts of Purpura and Pyrrha as the door opened to the first floor of the dorms.

"Good luck in the tournament Ms. Nikos." Goodwitch said as the three of us exited the elevator.

'Yeah that's the last thing she's worried about at the moment.' I thought as Purpura and I departed towards our room. We reached the door and held my scroll to the mechanism, unlocking it. I opened the door and was about to step in before I was interrupted.

"Excuse me." I heard Pyrrha ask from behind, as we turned around to face her. Clearly the girl followed us as she didn't know what to do next.

"D-do you think we could talk?" She asked motioning towards our room.

"Sure." I said as I let her in. She just wanted some sort of answers, and if the Professors wouldn't give them all I'd try my best.

Pyrrha hesitantly walked into our temporary dorm and took a seat on the edge of Purpura's bed. The room itself was quite devoid of anything really, and if you didn't know any better it appeared quite vacant. We only really used the room to rest or sleep in, besides that we made ourselves busy by either observing the Vytal Festival for foul play or training in the Emerald Forrest.

"Why did this have to happen?" I heard her ask from her spot on the bed as I closed the door behind me. Purpura took a seat across from Pyrrha on my bed and I sat next to her. Pyrrha remained looking at the floor as she asked the question. It was a good question really, why did something this have to happen. Why can't people just live in peace? Why does there always have to be fighting, bloodshed? If we could all just move past our differences, human, faunus, rich, poor, we could make this world such a beautiful place.

But no, as long as there was a small difference in the mindset of people, there would be conflicts. Disagreements that soon become lines drawn in the ground, those imaginary lines in the ground would create tension, and eventually one way or another they'd be at each others throats. It was the depressing circle of life, and there was usually only one thing that ever interrupted that cycle. Desperation.

Come an be the form of a common enemy, some sort of greater threat. Those forces who were at each others throats were now forced to work together, trust one another, die together. Or they would die alone, helplessly. Which brought me back to Pyrrha's question. Why?

"Why? I've come to find there's never a good reason Nikos. These things just happen, and we as citizens of this Kingdom have to do our best to help." I said to her as she looked up at me, she didn't look surprised be my answer but it didn't look to help her any. I don't if I could help her in that aspect, her feelings, but maybe I'd help give her some sort of positivity.

"How long have the two of you known about this shadow war? These maidens?" She asked as she looked between us.

"Today." Purpura answered quickly. "We thought we knew the reason behind this war, we thought it was simply just hatred between the faunus and mankind. But the real reason all along has been because of th-these Maidens." Purpura said as she looked downcast, not doing any better than Pyrrha. It was true that she didn't have some sort of ultimatum like Pyrrha but we both now knew that we weren't fighting any normal being. Cinder had a portion of that young woman's powers, that fact that she defeated Amber without those powers was scary enough but now she was even stronger. And that changed everything.

"But I thought Ozpin said you were colleagues of his? Just who are you two?" She asked a bit confused.

"I'm Dezmond Slate and she's Purpura Reign, and until very recently we were operatives of the White Fang." I said as her eyes widened.

"The terrorist group!?" She said as she stood from the bed, body ready to fight at a moments notice.

"Not all of them.. but yes." I said as I put up my hands in an innocent manner. "But we're not part of that any more, we're here to help just like you are. Your fellow first year Team RWBY can vouch for us." I told her as she looked between the two of us again, she let out a deep breath before finally sitting again.

"Well if the Professor's trust you and Team RWBY does as well then I will. But what do you mean that you just found out today, have you also been in the dark?" She asked us as we simply nodded.

"What do I do?" She asked as her hands covered her face. "This was not how it was supposed to happen, I was supposed to come here to make friends, better myself as huntress. To graduate. NOT whatever this is. I didn't ask for this!" She said as tears began to flow.

"None of us did Pyrrha." Purpura said as she stepped near the girl and laid a hand on her shoulder. Pyrrha was clearly a whirlpool of emotions ever since she was given a decision to make. Anger, sadness, doubt. Her whole world was clearly pulled out from under her and she had no idea of how to react. "But that doesn't mean we can just give up, it means we have to more prepared then ever. I know you have a hard decision to make, but in the end it's your decision and no one elses."

"She's right at the end of the day it's your decision to make, it doesn't matter what the Professors think what's best for you do. It's your choice Pyrrha." I told her as she looked up and wiped her face clear of her tears.

"I know." She said as she stood up. "And that's what makes it worse, my choice will impact a Kingdom. Good or bad, right or wrong, it comes down to me. The worst part is I've already made up my mind." She said as she walked to the window of our room and stared towards the rising sun.

"I'm going to do it. Even if it's the wrong decision, I have to believe I can help better this Kingdom. If not all of Remnant. It's my destiny to become a great huntress, and I have to fulfill it." She said as she turned around and looked at us.

"We make our own destiny's Pyrrha. For better or worse. I've made mistakes, but I've always believed that once my time runs out I would of made an impact on Remnant. For better or worse.

"Thank you, for hearing me out. There's still some time to before I have to make my decision and it would be best if I spend with my team." Pyrrha said with a small smile as she walked to the door. As she opened it I left her one last piece of advice.

"Remember Pyrrha, do in what you believe is right, because when our time is up and we look back on what we've left, we can hold no regrets."

"Thank you." She said as she left and sought out her teams words. This whole thing has become a mess, people like her should never have to be involved in these kind of matters. The kind-hearted had no place on a battlefield, it was always hard to see them go.

"What should we do now Dezmond?" Purpura asked as joined my side, pulling me into a small embrace. I threw an arm around her and looked to the clock hanging on the wall.

"We still have a while before the finals this afternoon. Let's head out and train some more. I have a feeling that we're going to need all of it we can get."

* * *

 **AN: Sorry a little late on this one. This one was hard to find the right words for as the time for talking is nearing it's end. That being said this story also has come a bit late as I have started to work on what will be my second fic. It has a long way to go and I don't plan on release its initial chapter until this fic is complete, so don't worry about me getting sidetracked by that. An another note we are just under two months away from the release of Volume 4. HYPE, it's hard to believe that it's almost been half a year since the ending of Volume 3, and nine months since I first started this story. How time passes. Until next time -MidKnight209  
**


	41. Chapter 41: Vengeance Falls

**Chapter 41: Vengeance Falls**

* * *

I have climbed through dirt, through mud and earth.  
In this quest for life, I've only hurt.  
I lost myself, and none could help.  
Felt unending pain, perpetual hell.  
Death arrived, smile contrived.  
He pulled me close, but I survived.

This attack, turned life black.  
Now I own this flame, and burn you back.

We start this fire, just to burn it all.  
From out the pyre, a new life calls. -Matt Heafy

* * *

 **Emerald Forrest**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

* * *

I slid against the forest floor as Purpura sent both of her feet into my chest. I came to a stop once my back impacted a large oak tree. I pushed myself and readied my blade once more as I shifted to a more defensive stance. Purpura came running at me, both of her daggers at her sides.

It was good to see Purpura gaining more confidence in her striking, I trained with her to become more of a defensive fighter like myself but she was quickly adapting more of an offensive style. It was a good thing, our styles of fighting suited our weapons and preferences. I liked stay back and over-watch the fight, providing long-range cover and intel when I could. When the fight came to me I preferred to stay defensive and make the most of my adversaries mistakes by countering at the right time.

Purpura stayed back like me for the most part but to my surprise she tended to gravitate towards the battle. It was a big step for her, she was self-admittedly hesitant about fighting on the front lines. But the more missions we fought together the more comfortable she got. She even modified SnapShot's optics and peripherals to meet her new needs. She removed the long-range optics and installed a small holographic scope, accompanied by a magnifier in order to keep it's long range capabilities.

And then there was her fighting, she became somewhat of a guerilla fighter. She would tried to land a series of quick combos and pull back and wait, letting her opposition spend energy to engage her once more. In the times they fought defensively like myself she would take the offensive and just try to overwhelm them, throwing so many strikes that even if she did make a mistake the enemy would need absolute perfect timing in order to capitalize. It was a little frustrating but it brought a smile to my face to see her enjoying a training session.

She came at me sprinting, a smile on her face as she thought she held an advantage. She leaped high over the ground and came back down boot first. I rolled under the attack and swung a horizontal slash at her midsection as she turned around. Mortem nearly caught her bought she held strong guarding with her twin daggers Lothric and Lorian.

I leaned in hard with estoc as I slowly pushed her back. Seeing she was losing the match of strength she quickly pulled back her two daggers and leaned back letting Mortem sly over her. She rotated her body quickly and placed her hands flat on the ground and threw a mule kick at me knocking me back once more as I used the momentum and threw myself in a backwards handspring. I landed and she was quickly on me again and she began thrusting at me with her daggers. 'Be patient' I thought as I dodged her right strike and blocked her left strike with my blade. 'Just got to frustrate her' I thought as continued to weave through her flurry of dagger strikes. I would unable to land a blow on her if I kept this strategy up but she might get impatient and try to switch up her methods, in that case I would probe for a more glaring weakness.

It was just one big chess match, I mused as I sent an upwards strike with Mortem. The strike knocked one of her arms high, giving me a brief opening. I went to capitalize but she caught me with a quick spinning kick to my side, then another as I staggered back a couple of steps. She sent a high kick right for me face but I leaned just enough left for it only graze me. 'Here's my window.' I thought as threw my weapon down and charged forward, catching her in a straight on tackle. We hit the ground in a roll as I noticed the slope of terrain we were now present on. We rolled several times over as, Purpura losing control of her daggers as we did so. We finally stopped as she was now on top of the struggle we were in.

"How about we call it a tie." She said with a small laugh.

"Eh.. I don't know I think I have you in unarmed comb-" I started until I was cut off. Purpura's lips crashed into mine as her hands wrapped around my neck. I was surprised at first but fell into a lull as I pulled her closer and just fell into the moment. After what felt like minutes she pushed herself off me, a large blush present on her face as she lent down to help me up. I gratefully took it as she pulled me up.

"Well that was- Oww!" I started as she slugged me on the shoulder.

"That's for tackling me you jerk." She said with a laugh as she wrapped he arms around me in an embrace.

"Sorry but I couldn't help just throwing myself on you." I said with a small grin.

"S-shut up!" Purpura said as she threw her face down into my chest. Doing her best to hide her blush. "So how'd I do?" She asked as let go and faced me.

"W-well I mean it was really nice, especially your bod-"

"I meant our duel!" She yelled, her face now a dark shade of red.

"Oh.. Yes, of course the duel." I started as I cleared my throat. "You've been really improving Purpura. Your striking, guarding, hell even your stance has greatly improved. I just wished I learned as quickly as you have been learning. Would have saved me a whole lot of ass kickings in the past." I told her as I walked up to her and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"But really Purpura, you're doing great. You've learned so much in a such a limited amount of time, hell for all we know your semblance could be photographic memory. Seriously I don't think there's a single session we've had were you haven't taken something I've taught and put it to the test."

"Well I couldn't have done it without you." Purpura said with a smile as my words clearly took great affect on her.

"You have so much potential Purpura, you just needed someone to give you the time of day and take you under their wings." I said as I walked over and collected our weapons. I handed over her daggers and she sheathed them both upon her left thigh. I shifted Mortem into it's pistol variant and began to holster it. Purpura and I both shifted as were hear a distant but not too distant Beowolf howl. "Come on let's go, we've trained enough for now. The Vytal Finals start this evening and we need all the rest we can get for what may lie ahead."

"Got it!" She said her face serious once more.

* * *

 **Amity Colliseum**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

* * *

"Now, for the moment you've all been waiting for! The one-on-one finals!" Professor Port yelled through the microphone. His voiced echoed throughout the entire coliseum as the sold out crowd went absolutely mental. It was a surreal experience really, as Purpura and I looked around the arena it was absolutely packed in. I knew this was a big event but I never imagined what it was like in person. Maybe in another life me and my team back in Atlas could of been down in the arena, experiencing it for ourselves. But choices we're made, mistakes we're made, and it was up to Purpura and I took make sure those mistakes stayed behind us. A new beginning.

"Barty, why don't you explain the rules?" I heard the announcer call out as I was pulled back into reality.

"Ah, it's quite simple, Peter. Instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will be randomly determined immediately before the match takes place!"

"Much like any good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!" Port responded.

"Ah, yes, yes! Now, let's see who our first match will be!" The doctor called out as the two holographic displays began to cycle through the remaining eight contestants.

So it was down to Yang, Pyrrha, Sun, Penny, Mercury and three others. I shouldn't have been surprised Mercury was still in the tournament. The best to be if you planned something sinister would be in the thick of it, right dab in the middle of all the attention. I don't understand why they haven't made their move yet. What were they waiting for?

That question continued to haunt me as the first wheel began to slow down.

"And the first contestant is Yang Xiao Long! And her opponent is Mercury Black!" Port yelled through his microphone.

Wait this couldn't be there move right? On live television, that would be... the perfect time to send a message. But even so if they blew their cover it would a Kingdom wide manhunt, surely even that bitch Cinder isn't that cocky. Right?

"Would all other opponents please leave the stage!" He said once more as they cleared. Leaving only the two fighters.

"What's wrong Dez?" Purpura asked shaking my side as she looked at me with worry. "Do you think their going to try hurt Yang?"

"I don't know..." I said shaking my head. "And that's the worst part, I don't know why Ozpin wants us just to sit and wait for just to react to whatever may happen. I hate this, just waiting. But clearly he knows something we do not, so against my better judgement will follow his instructions. But if you seeing anything out of the regular be ready to go. Got it?

"Understood." She said gripping my hand noticeably tighter than before.

The stage Yang and Mercury stood began to raise. Unlike the other rounds of the tournament there was no reactive environment. Just a clean slate, this wasn't about using the environment to your advantage anymore, it was just flat out skill.

The lights centered on Yang and Mercury as everyone waiting for the announcer to match the beginning. It would be an interesting fight as the two of them were both head on fighters, preferring the center of attention than any other means of fighting. The two of them slowly began to near each other, both in a loose fighting stance as the professor counted down the timer. They briefly touched gloves as the counter hit one.

"BEGIN!"

The professor yelled as Yang and Mercury went to their bread butter. Yang reared back and threw a heavy right as Mercury quickly turned and threw his weight into a roundhouse. They met with equal strength as both of them staggered from their blows connecting with each others. Yang stood back and played the defender as Mercury ran up to her and leaped with a flying kick. Yang dipped under the attack but forced to block an elbow thrown downwards from Mercury. The two traded a series of punches, none of them really connecting until Yang found her way inside his guard and landed left cross into his chest. Mercury was thrown backwards from her blow but rolled with the momentum and fired a shot from each of his greaves as he popped into a handspring and faced Yang once more.

Trading punches with Yang was never going to work, especially with how it fuels Yang's semblance if you do manage to land a shot or two. Mercury obviously was testing the water on that and would try to lean on his kickboxing style.

Yang seeing her advantage began to fire her burn rounds from her gauntlets, trying to barrage Mercury while she could. Mercury using the speed enhancement of his greaves wind rounds boosted himself out of the line of fire and and weaved himself back towards Yang's position. Once he get close enough he reared back and threw his momentum into and overhead axe kick. Yang expected this though and caught his kick by throwing her arms in an overhead cross, what Yang didn't expect thought was for Mercury to reverse his momentum and simultaneously firing his grieves, launching him back upwards and catching her under the chin with a kick. Yang flipped backwards from the blow but corrected herself and landed on both of her feet. Not wanting to lose the momentum of the fight she got low to the ground and fired her gauntlets behind her boosting her fight back into the fight.

Yang threw a rapid combo of punches, firing with her gauntlets the entire time as she was alternating between her left and right jabs. Mercury did his best to block or misdirect her punches, but with Yang's brash fighting style she didn't have to land a clean hit as the rounds from her gauntlets would begin to eat away at one's aura, and in some cases cause some splash damage to herself, which again would fuel her semblance and make her successive blows hit even harder. Yang was truly a different kind of beast.

Mercury eventually misdirected enough of Yang's blow to give him an opening an he connected with two over kicks of his own. Now with some room to operate he began to weave around Yang's strikes once more. Yang clearly annoyed that he fought through her guard threw a downward punch at the ground, hoping for the aftershock to stumble his footwork. But Mercury was ready and leaped into the air and away as he avoided her ground-pound. Just as Yang recovered from her throw Mercury through his hand to ground and shifted his weigh into a one-handed mule kick. Yang guarded well but mercury through that into a series of kicks which Yang had no choice but block and work her way backwards.

It was just in time too as Mercury's amazing footwork came down with a heavy kick. Yang stood once more and they reset as Yang went on the offensive once more, she threw a small series of jabs at Mercury, which he bobbed and weaved out of. He then responded with a couple of low kicks, trying to knock Yang off balance which, she did a good job of either blocking or changing her stance to absorb the blow and keep fighting. Eventually Mercury transitioned into spinning kicks and partially caught Yang in the face as she blocked. She pushed off while guarding, creating some space between the two. Mercury fell back from her block but he got himself up as he continued moving his feet like a break dancer spinning upwards and throwing himself right back into the fight with Yang.

He came in with another low kick but Yang was ready for it this time as she threw hands forward and met his leg. Mercury staggered from the block but Yang wasn't done as she threw a hard uppercut catching Mercury right underneath his jaw. The blow knocked Mercury up and off his feet but Yang continued her momentum forward and spun with it connected her hands together and sent a savage elbow right into Mercury's gut. Mercury was knocked onto his stomach as his head the ground from the heavy one-two combo. As he pushed himself back up Yang began an unrelenting stream of rounds from her gauntlets. Mercury threw himself upwards and began to handspring backwards, doing his best to avoid her barrage. Eventually though his luck ran out as one connected with his chest knocking him into the air and off the stage.

"She did it!" I heard Purpura say Mercury sailed threw the air, his legs kicking as they suddenly had no ground underneath them. Eventually her corrected himself in flight and fired two rounds just before he hit the ground and landed on the stage one more.

As he landed he threw a large series of kicks towards Yang, which she did her best to back-peddle out of. She was mostly successful, but Mercury soon built a rhythm of kicks which he continued to mechanically throw at her as he added spinning kicks to his combination. He threw a high spinning kick which connected with Yang's back staggering her forward a bit as he threw another which just barely ducked under. Yang seeing herself losing the advantage regained her footing and threw a small flurry of punches at Mercury, one or two landing, but not doing enough damage to stop another one of his jumping roundhouse kicks. Yang ducked into her guard and was knocked back from the blow, resetting the fight once more.

Mercury wanted to keep up the pressure as he fired a wind round from his greaves, which Yang bobbed under and caused her to raise her guard. Mercury seeing his opening began to continuously fire with one foot and pivot off his other, spinning in a circle which soon created a wall of his wind rounds around the two combatants. Yang made her way back towards Mercury and dodged through a couple of his wind rounds, Mercury's back towards her as she ran forward and tried to take advantage of her opening. She threw a hard right cross as Mercury turned around but he dodged her strike and caused her to overextend. He then caught her in a leg sweep and as she fell to the ground he got low and kicked her upwards knocking her into the air. He continued his combo and jumped into the air and knocked her back to the ground with brutal downward axe-kick. As Yang impacted the ground his wind rounds homed onto her and further enhanced the blow of Mercury's attack.

A fog was created from the attack, and Mercury walked away thinking himself the victor as he brushed some dirt of his shoulder. He already began to wave to the crowd a fire erupted from the where Yang had laid. Except this was no fire. Yang's semblance was pushed to the absolute limit as she was literally a lite with flames. Mercury was completely caught off-guard. Yang came forward with another heavy right cross which Mercury managed to block. He responded with two spinning kick which Yang just dipped under, leaving him wide open. Yang responded with a series of left and right hooks, changing her stance with every punch as she did her best Dempsey Roll impersonation. Every one of her punches connected with Mercury's body, and after about half-a-dozen solid punched she lifted him off the ground with an uppercut to his gut, his aura breaking in the process as his body flashed grey. Yang sent one more punch to his chin knocking him back to the ground as the arena's buzzer sounded.

Mercury crumpled into a ball as Yang's combination left him reeling. Yang was breathing heavy as she was still squared up, it took her a second to turn her 'switch off' and her eyes melted back into her lavender as her semblance finally started to wear off. After wiping a brow of sweat of with her arm she quickly threw an arm into the air, the crowd exploded into a series of cheers as they clearly have just witnessed on of the best fights of this years tournament. Mercury slowly pushed himself to one knee but remained hunched over, clearly still shaken from their battle. Yang walked towards Mercury and they exchanged a set of words before Mercury slowly stood up. Something wasn't right though and Mercury flinched back as Yang threw another punch right into his right leg. The crowd erupted in a panic, as boos began to rain down towards the arena.

Yang just broke his leg. On live television.

A majority of the crowd was cringing from what just happened on stage. The monitors showed a brief replay before the screens were cut off completely. Everyone was in a shock from the aftermath of the fight, and a series of Atlesian Knights and Atlas Soldiers surrounded Yang. She was escorted off the arena, boos being rained down on her the whole time. She was clearly affected as she covered her face, tears threatening to spill over.

So that's how they were going to play in huh? Ruin the huntsman's image? I don't know what Mercury said for Yang to lash out like she did but it looks like this was going to be Cinder's play. Disrespect the huntsmen.

A team of paramedics ran a stretcher out to Mercury as Emerald took his side. They soon ran off the stage as everyone was confused as what was to happen next. Soon the Doctor began to speak up.

"In light of today's events, today's remaining matches have been postponed until tomorrow afternoon. Sorry for the inconvenience." The doctor began to call out

"I can't believe she did that! At least on live television, I mean we know their with the enemy but still." Purpura started as we joined the crowd to departing the arena.

"Let's go join up with the rest of Team RWBY we can talk this out in private." I said as we continued into the breeze-ways.

"Right." She nodded as we made our way to the bullhead.

* * *

 **RWBY's Dorm Room**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

* * *

"But he attacked me!" Yang pleaded with the General.

"Video footage and millions of viewers say otherwise." Ironwood responded as he looked around the room. Ruby sat alongside Yang on Weiss bed and across from them Blake and Weiss. Purpura and I stood near the corner of the room, letting everything play out before us.

"But Yang would never do that!" Weiss argued.

"Yeah!" Ruby chimed in as she stood in Yang's defense. Literally.

"You all seem like good students, and the staff here at Beacon are fully aware that you would never lash out the way you did... under normal circumstances" The General stared as Ruby sat back down. "What I believe and hope this to be is nothing more than the result of stress and adrenaline. When you're out on the battlefield, your judgment can become clouded in an instant. Sometimes you see things that simply aren't there. Even after the fight is past..." He said turning down to himself, this being a subject he probably either had experience with or helped.

"But I wasn't-" Yang started before she was cut off.

"That's ENOUGH!" The General said as he raised his voice. I went to step forward but was cut off by Purpura's arm. "The sad truth is, whether it was an accident or an assault, it doesn't matter. The world saw you attack an innocent student. They've already drawn their own conclusions. And it's my job to inform you that... you are disqualified." The General finished before turning around and leaving the room. The room was silent as she stared into the ground, no once else desiring to speak up.

"You guys believe me, right?" Yang asked as she looked to her team.

"Duh!" Ruby spoke up instantly. She have Yang's back no matter the situation. Blood runs deep for the two, even if they weren't directly related.

"You're hotheaded, but not ruthless." Weiss affirmed Yang.

"Blake?" Yang asked as the rest of her team focused on her.

"I want to believe you." Blake said as she left her inner thoughts.

"Huh!?" Ruby asked confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Weiss asked annoyed.

"Blake?" Yang asked once more, this time tears falling.

"How can you say something like that? Yang would never lie to us!" Weiss demanded at Blake.

"I had someone very dear to me change. It wasn't in an instant, it was gradual - little choices that began to pile up. He told me not to worry. At first they were accidents, then it was self-defense. Before long, even I began to think he was right. This...this is all just very you're not him. And you've never done anything like this before. So I want to trust you... I will trust you. But first, I need you to look me in the eyes and tell me that he attacked you. I need you to promise me that you regret having to do what you did." Blake asked Yang as she stared into her eyes.

"I saw him attack me, so I attacked back." Yang said as she cleared her eyes.

"Okay. Thank you." Blake said with a smile.

"What do you two believe?" Weiss asked as the four of them turned to us.

"It doesn't matter whether we believe you are not. Their the enemy, even if it was a brutal method. They would of done the same to you, if not worse if they weren't worried about blowing their cover." I said to the group as they gave me mixed responses. Weiss stood up as she was about to refute.

"What I'm trying to say is." I started as I raised my hands. "No matter what happened out there Purpura and I are on your side. For better or worse, we're in this together."

"Thanks." Yang said with a small smile, still not entirely over being disqualified. But hell at least she was in good health. She'd have another three chances to win this thing. "I think I'm going to rest up." She said as her three teammates stood up.

"We'll get out of your hair." Blake said as we walked out of the room.

"This is a mess." Weiss said as the door closed.

"We'll be in touch, if anything seems out of place we're a call away." I said as Purpura joined me.

"Thanks, we will." Ruby said as we then left for our room. The three of them we're having a small talk with another one of their fellow first year teams.

"Just when you think you have a grasp on what's going on, this goes and happens." Purpura said shaking her head. She was right too, I don't understand the point of them coaxing Yang to attack Mercury. Even if it ruined her image, Mercury was now down for the count. It would be a long while before he even attempted to walk that off. Serves them them right though, even if they technically made the first move, we hit harder.

"Come let's get some rest. I'm sure this is being brought up with the other huntsmen now. Who knows when Cinder's next move is." I said as we reached our room.

* * *

 **That Night**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

* * *

"It could of been one of us though! I hate waiting for us just to respond to an attack. What if we don't get the chance to respond!" Purpura said as she rose her voice.

"Look I understand Purpura but what can we do. I'd like to outright just attack them myself but we'd be in it ourselves. I can't risk that, I can't risk you like that." I said as Purpura backed up from my statement.

"W-What do you mean?" Purpura asked a little taken back.

"I'm not losing anyone else Purpura. First Fuchsia, Bane, all of our members back in the caves. Enough people have died because of that bitch. And if I have any say in this, no one else will join that list." I said as Purpura threw herself into me.

"Do you think this ends with her?" She asked, as her voice was muffled by my chest.

"I don't know, maybe this is just the tip of the iceberg. Maybe Cinder is just a small piece of the equation. But damn it she's still a piece, and if I can stop then maybe I can feel some sort inner peace." I said as I felt something run down my face. Tears I didn't know I could still shed fell down my face and onto Purpura head before she faced me.

Our lips met for the second time that day as we fell into her bed.

There was a long road ahead of us, but this night nothing else mattered.

* * *

 **Well then, that's a first for me. Sorry for the delay, had some issues with working out this chapter but alas I worked it out and was only a week late. With this chapter down only three remain. I look forward to it. Until next time. -MidKnight209**


	42. Chapter 42: Darkness Within

**Chapter 42: Darkness Within**

"Here in this darkness that I lay, depression heavy in its weigh.

And how my body aches to leave, to sing this final eulogy.

My sons I love you evermore, and though the road beckons once more.

I see the damage that I've done, in search for redemption.

But I am just a broken man, whose soul cries out to understand.

How the madness shatter me, upon the stage on bended knee.

I scream out loud at skies above, the answer mute bereft in love.

I struggle not to fall from grace, or sing the hymns of my disgrace.

We build cathedrals to our pin, establish monuments to attain.

Freedom from all of the scars and sins, lest we drown in the darkness within." -Robert Flynn

* * *

 **Quick note here, I didn't make note of it last chapter as it really hasn't taken effect yet but I've bumped the story back to an M rating. Not going to hold back on these last for chapters, it's going to get real.**

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

My eyes slowly opened as I woke up. I slowly shifted to my right but was stopped by another presence. Purpura still was laying in my bed as last nights events started to replay in my head.

'Oh, that happened.'

I remembered as I let out a deep breath I didn't know I was holding. It's not that it was a bad thing, I just didn't expect it. I held feelings for her and I knew she held feelings for me but last night we learned how deep our feelings truly were. Purpura slowly stirred in bed and she shifted until she was facing me.

"Morning Dez." Purpura said with a bright smile and small blush as she made eye contact with me.

"Morning Purp.." I responded as she leaned into my chest and threw an arm around me.

"Do you really think we can stop them Dez, do you think after all is said and done we will have made a difference?" She asked as I felt her embrace tighten. 'Could we? That was a question I seemed to ask myself a lot recently. Even knowing our enemies we're planning something we couldn't help but to watch Yang get disqualified from the tournament. They played their role perfectly and got the crowd on their sides. The would most surely try to play that angle again, seeing it as effective as it was.'

'But what was their play. We know their end goal is to steal what remaining power that is left in the current fall maiden Amber. But what did the tournament have to do with that? No she had something else in mind other than just killing that poor women Amber. She wanted to create discord among Vale's citizens. We already saw it happen, even if this next match is to feature the remaining six hunters stadium attendance is bound do be down. After the last display, surely parents would keep their children from either watching or attending, even if it was a freak accident. It wasn't like there was some superstar among the remaining fighters..

..Pyrrha. She was still labeled the invincible girl wasn't she. Purpura and I saw it all over the coliseum's walls, posters plastered with Pyrrha's name front and center. That had to be Cinder's move, attacking or even better yet framing her like they did with Yang. Damn it why didn't I think of it before... Not to mention that she was Ozpin's choice to 'inherit' the fall maidens powers. A process I still didn't truly understand, I had a feeling I wasn't the only one.'

"Dez?" Pupura asked again, her voice pulling me from my thoughts as she once again made eye contact with me.

"Yes. We've come too far Purp, seen too much. We'll stop her. Them. One way or another, they'll pay for what they've done." I replied as I pulled her into a deeper embrace. Her shoulders relaxing as I did so. Clearly after yesterday's situation she wasn't in the best of places, we came to help in any ways we could and have yet to do so. I can understand why she is so downtrodden.

"So what's the plan for today then? Just wait for them to strike again and play damage control?" She said as she sat up in bed, bringing the covers with her so that she remained covered.

"No. Whether the Professors like it or not we are making our presence known from here on out. We've been watching from the sidelines for too long, maybe if Cinder realizes some of her former compatriots are openly against her she might back off. If anything we have her where we want her. She has to make a move Purpura, the only good thing coming from yesterday is that she is already in too deep now. She will strike, we just need to be there when she does. The professors, all the huntsmen from the visiting nations, if we make a stand together we can end this once and for all. Maiden powers be damned, it wont be enough for them." I said, waiting for her reaction.

A small smile crept on her face as she laid back down. "Your right." She said as she let out breath. "I'm s-sorry I just hate all of this-this mess. I just can't help but to think that something's going to happen which we can't be ready for. I had this same damn feeling when we were stationed at Mountain Glenn." She said as she stifled a cry, holding her head as she winced in pain.

"Purpura what's wrong?" I asked as I moved over to her and held a hand to her forehead. At first she flinched a bit. "Your burning up Purp. How long has this been happening?" I asked as she started to melt into my head.

"Just right now.." She said with a sniffle. "I don't know why but I keep seeing images in my head. Grimm.. Fire.. and then I see Beacon's tower in ruins. It's just like back at Glenn, before the mission all I could see in my head was flames and ruins. P-Please just make it stop!" She nearly yelled as she held her head. Her her still burning up.

"Give me a second." I said as I ran over towards the bathroom. I grabbed a towel and ran it under some cold water. I wrung it once and then ran back up to Purpura, tears running down her face as she winced in pain. I sat behind her and placed the towel on her head and she relaxed into me once more as the cold seemed to keep the pain at bay.

"Thank you." She meekly said as her breathing started to even out.

"This isn't the first time this has happened has it?" I asked as she slowly nodded left to right.

"No. It's happened since I was younger. I just thought it was bad dreams, nightmares you know.. But then it started happening in the middle of the day. The worst part is sometimes they would come true, I-I remember when I was younger my parents told me they were going out to the market. They never came back Dez."

"What happened?" I asked her as I flipped the towel around, doing my best to keep her relaxed.

"Grimm attack, just like in my dream. Of course they weren't the only one's affected, 12 people died that day. I remember the next day being put into an orphanage, it wasn't soon after the Fang took me in. Promising me food, shelter, friends. And they we're right, I no longer had to eat the leftovers the orphanage left me because I was a faunus. I met others the same age as me and for a while I was happy.

Then over time, one by one they started disappearing. I noticed as the White Fang shifted from an equality movement to a militia. It sickened me, but what other choice was there? It was either that or be out on the streets homeless. So I just lived day to day, and after a while months passed, years even. Until you came along." She said as she made eye contact and pulled me into another long kiss.

"And that's why I'm scared. What will I do if something happens to you Dez, I'm tired of losing people, friends. I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you, I'd have nothing, no one, I'd be alone again." She said as tears fell once more. "Why can't this just end? This meaningless violence, if we'd just stand together we could put an end to the Grimm once and for all. But no.. we have to kill each other and continue this endless cycle of revenge. It isn't fair."

"No it isn't. But maybe one day it will be. And until then we have to just hold out and hope there's enough good people in this world to fix everything. People like Pyrrha. People like Ruby. People like you. One day we'll take it back."

"Yeah one day." She replied as the room went silent.

We sat in our embrace for Oum knows how long. Just sitting it our silence, this place called Remnant had its fair share of bullshit and tragedies, but right now that didn't matter. Because we had each other, everything else could wait.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Dezmond & Purpura**

We made our way over to Team RWBY's room as we still had some matters to discuss with Yang. After our earlier 'activites' we discussed on what should happen next, and thought it would be best to talk them over with their team.

I knocked on the door lightly and waited. I slowly heard one of their beds creaking followed by heavy footsteps of whoever was inside. Slowly the door opened revealing Yang, her eyes looked poofy and red no doubt still sorrowfull after the events of her spar.

"Hey." She said meekly as looked between the two of us. "Something wrong?" She asked her voice sounding a bit horse.

"Can we talk?" I asked as she nervously shifted a bit.

"Yeah." She said with a nod as she opened the door. She walked over to her bed and sat against the edge of it. Purpura sat across from her in the bed and I sat alongside her.

"How are you holding up?" Purpura asked. The answer wasn't truly needed as you could tell by her appearance she was taking it pretty hard. It was times like this I forgot that Yang was only a first year student at Beacon, despite how scary she was in a fight she was still only 17.

"I've been better." She said with a sigh. "It's all just staring to set in you know? Even if he is the enemy I'm not the kind of person to make a public example of him. You guys know I didn't try to dismember him right?" She said as she first looked to Purpura then me.

"I would of reacted the same Yang, because that's what you did, you reacted. You felt that you were in the way of physical harm and you reacted to stop it. Sure you could of up and tried to evade the strike but that's easy to say in hindsight. You did no wrong, even if everyone else saw differently."

"If someone tried to take something or someone from me I would done the same. Except maybe with a kick." Purpura said with a small chuckle as she tried to cheer up Yang.

Yang saw that and a small smile grew on her face. "Yeah, that would of shown him. Thanks for believing me. S-so what did you two need to talk about?"

"We wanted to see how you were doing, plus I talked it over with Dez and we thought it would be a good idea if one of us stayed with you for the remainder of the Vytal Festival" Purpura said.

"Why? Is there something wrong?" Yang said as her defensive side started to show once more.

"The enemy already targeted you once Yang, we don't know if they may try to again. So I thought it would be smart if Purpura stays with you just in case. Plus she can also help you talk through some of your issues as she had some previous experiences herself." I told her as I stood up from the bed and made my way towards the door.

"Y-yeah that's fine, you guys would tell if anything is up right?" Yang asked nervously.

"You'd be the first to know Yang, can't turn down that kind of firepower you bring. Anyways I have to go, Ozpin still wants me to be on the scene if anything is to happen. Thankfully he let me use one of the school's empty lockers in case shit is to get real. I gotta go now, I'll be in touch."

"Wait." Purpura said as she ran over to the door. She pulled me into another kiss, deepening last second before stopping. "I'll be here." She said with a smile as I closed the door.

* * *

 **Beacon Academy**

 **Purpura & Yang**

"Well how long has that been going on?" I heard Yang asked as I turned around. Her eyebrows wiggling up and down.

"I-We.. Just recently.." I told Yang as walked over and sat on the bed across from her.

"So I know a little about Slate but I felt like we've never really gotten to know you, you're always just kind of in the back of the conversations." Yang said as her eyes widened and she started shaking her hands dismissively. "Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just think this might be a good time to get to know more about you."

"Well there's a reason for that, I've never really been the one to stand out in a crowd. I never really wanted to, to be perfectly honest. I always worked better from back." I told Yang.

"I can understand that. Is there a reason behind it or has it always just been that way?" She asked.

"It wasn't my choice. I never really had the chance to stand out when I was younger. When my parents passed away I was shoved into an orphanage. It wasn't long after that I was taken into the White Fang, and back then they only had the best of intentions. But after months of looking to put me into a new home nothing happened, and then their leader stepped down. Once that happened it was either arm up or be thrown out. So I just did what they told me, following whatever orders I was given. Anything was better than living in the streets, I wouldn't make it long.

"Weeks became months, months became years. I just kept keeping on, until I met him."

"Slate?" Yang asked as I confirmed with a nod.

"I was assigned on a mission to him, he was the lead officer in charge of recon in Mountain Glenn. He was the first person to truly talk to me during a mission, instead of just barking orders we talked. I know it doesn't sound like a lot but in his eyes we were equals. I wasn't just some grunt to him. And then everything went to shit. The Grimm being released a lot of the Fang members weren't equipped to take on that many, after the train crashed it was every man and woman for themselves.

"I should I died that night. I was stuck in one of the train cars, no weapon, no way to defend myself. A Grimm was bearing down on me and then it was cut down before my eyes. And he was there, not just him either. He managed to rally some of our fellow members and through his leadership we fought our way back into Mountain Glenn. He saved us that day, he showed us that we were more than just acceptable losses.

"And then we left, we saw that this New White Fang was just as corrupt as anything we could possibly be fighting. That's when I fell for him. He saw something and was committed to fix it, even if it would be looked down upon, he still fought. For as long as something he believed in was the right thing to do. And he knew the White Fang to an extent were the bad guys, but he drove on, he was so damn convinced that he had to make a change he didn't matter who it was for.

"And after that tragedy he saw his faults, he knew what the real evil was, who she was. I've never seen anyone so committed Yang, that's what drew me to him. Me being someone so weak, him being so determined. He just needed someone to guide him along, someone to keep him true. And he saw that in me. I just wanted to help, to do what was right."

"He's changed a lot you know." Yang started. "When we first met him I didn't know what to think at first. Ruby saw him as a fellow weapon nut so naturally she wanted to be friends, but then he nearly hurt her at the docks, and then again later after the mech incident in Vale. I n-nearly killed, I could of killed him. But then I would of never been able to forgive myself.

"And then I when I met you two after you took Ruby and Weiss I wanted to explode. I'm glad I didn't, I see that you two now are trying to help, almost repent for your wrong doings. And although I don't agree on the way you two chose to do it, I don't think I would of agreed to working along side you two if you didn't almost force us to a truce."

"Now that I got that off my chest, after your meeting with the headmasters and my uncle you two are okay in my books. Plus seeing how much you've personally changed Slate by being with him, I can approve. Back then he was kind of just a robot, working blindly towards his objective, he was set for disaster. But your here now to keep him true, so we fight the bad guys and Ruby gets another friend back." Yang said with a small grin.

"Thanks Yang, it means a lot knowing we have you and your team's back."

"Anytime." Yang said as she stood and looked out her window. "So do you want to watch the rest of the tournament? Get a look out the people I would've rolled over?"

"Sure."

* * *

 **Amity Coliseum  
**

 **Slate**

I sat among the crowd, waiting in anticipation as the remaining six finalists took the center of the stage once more. For the first time I felt comfortable as I was able to wear my accustomed armor thanks to Emerald and Mercury due to his hospitalization.

Even though Yang was disqualified, the tournament officials chose not to replace with one of the members of the losing team. Deciding even thought she was DQ'd she still beat Mercury fair and square in the arena. The crowd didn't like the decision but ultimately they moved on to the remaining fighters.

Which brought us to now. The remaining fighters stood among each other and were trading words as the broadcast went live.

"Alright, it's now time to begin the randomization process for our next fight!" The Doctor said over the intercoms as the crowd waited in anticipation.

"It looks like our first contender is... Penny Polendina, from Atlas!" Professor Port yelled out to the crowd.

So it looks like my past was coming back again to remind me of what I went through to get were I was now. It was my first truly big robbery that night when I saw the pale red-headed girl now walking towards the center of the stage. She showed with Ruby and was ultimately the factor which turned the tides against us that night. She was extremely talented, possessing some sort of telekinesis that let her control multiple blades at once. Not to mention said blades harnessed a pool of energy which could be fired individually or all at once. She was dangerous, and whoever her opponent was would have their hands full.

"And her opponent will be... Pyrrha Nikos, from Beacon!"

Or it could be Pyrrha. So the invincible girl versus a relative unknown. That Penny girl was extremely skilled but I wouldn't say her raw talent would be enough to beat Pyrrha. I made it a point to do some research on Pyrrha after our chat we had. I saw footage of what she was capable of. She was never truly hit in all or her duels. Sure her foes connected, she wasn't flawless. But they were never solid hard hitting blows, she's always manage to redirect their blow or avoid it by mere inches. She in a lot of ways reminded me of Neo, besides the fact that Pyrrha liked to control the flow of the battle, always on the offensive.

"Contestants take your places!" The Doctor yelled as stage around the two duelists raised and then locked in place. "3, 2 , 1 Begin!" He yelled once more.

Penny threw her hand in a circular motion and her blades followed her command as they raised above her and flew towards Pyrrha. They soared in a single file line as Pyrrha met them head on. She deflected the first one with a swing of her javelin, sending it flying behind her. She kept the same strategy and swatted away it's fellow six swords and ran towards the now open Penny.

As Pyrrha neared Penny's swords righted themselves and flew back at Pyrrha's unguarded back side. At the last possible second Pyrrha dodged out of the way, somehow sensing the impending blades. The blades swirled around Penny and Pyrrha ran forward to engage her with her javelin, Pyrrha tried to breach Penny's guard but Penny used her blades as make-shift shield. Throwing elbows at Pyrrha as her swords were almost melded to her and followed her arm movements. Pyrrha tried a series of swipes and slashes with her weapon but was unsuccessful as Penny blocked all of them and knocked Pyrrha's weapon high and threw a slash of her blades across Pyrrha's midsection knocking her back a bit.

Pyrrha rolled with her hit and hand-sprung backwards giving herself some space in order for her to reset and look for a new opening. Pyrrha ran forward once more avoiding a make-shift shuriken of Penny's blades that was thrown towards her. Pyrrha jumped into the air and came down hard with an overhead swing of her Javelin, Penny blocked the blow with her remaining blades and performed a backwards handspring of her own, her blades following her in a circular motion as she now took the offensive as Pyrrha was leaning hard on her back foot. Penny sent a rapid series of slashes at Pyrrha as she threw arms forward in a series of swings, her blades following her every movement. Pyrrha did her best to block and mitigate the damage as she used her javelins length to slow Penny strikes down.

Eventually Pyrrha was wore down and Penny hit her with a swing that sent sliding back on her feet, giving the two separation and a new reset. Pyrrha clearly looking frustrated from the results so far drew her shield to her left arm and shifted her javelin into her short sword.

"My word what a tremendous display by Miss Polendina!" Professor Port yelled over the intercom as Penny and Pyrrha ran towards each other once more.

Pyrrha sent a spinning swing from her sword and towards her opponent, Penny was just out of reach but Pyrrha shifted her sword into her javelin mid-swing and it connected with her chest as she rotated around Penny in a beautiful display of footwork. She continued her new found momentum and sent another upward spinning slash into Penny's chest once more, knocking the girl airborne. Pyrrha didn't stop their as she jumped up and landed another blow across Penny's chest, this time knocking her back towards the ground. Penny was doing her best to block Pyrrha's blows but the tide looked like it was turning against her.

Penny landed on her feet as she skid against the arena's floor. Penny decided it was time to change her strategy as well and she commanded her blades in front of her, all aiming towards Pyrrha. They began to fire individually at Pyrrha, almost like a one man firing squad.

Did I say Pyrrha was good? Well that was an understatement as she rushed Penny contorting and twisting her body as she avoided everyone of Penny's energy attacks. She dove and evaded Penny's best efforts as she made her way towards her. Penny continued to hold her position as she then sent half of her blades arcing towards Pyrrha as she continued to fire with the ones that held in place. Pyrrha shifted her javelin back into her short sword as she batted away the new threat, all the while avoiding Penny's aim. Pyrrha knocked away the last offending blade as she dove to the ground to avoid a blast of energy, and in an amazing display of acrobatics she pushed herself off the ground via spinning her body like a drill and into the air. She righted herself and brought her arm back and launched herself at the now open Penny. Pyrrha landed a heavy hit into Penny's midsection and the she flew back from blow until she hit the ground hard, stomach first.

I looked to monitors to see of the fight was over but Penny's aura still stood at 22% while Pyrrha's was at probably an all time low of 55% Pyrrha must of that blow was the duels last as she stood up triumphantly. Penny literally came rocketing back into the fight as she flew forward, propelled by her blades firing behind her. At the last second Penny jumped into the air and came rocketing towards Pyrrha as Penny landed a hard kick which threw Pyrrha across the stage. Pyrrha was sent sprawling but she was finally able to correct herself after a series of tumbles. As Pyrrha got her feet underneath her she readied her weapons once more, unfortunately for her Penny anticipated that and sent a blade towards Pyrrha's hands knocking each of her weapons out of her grasp. She began to somehow pull on of her weapons back towards her as it took on a black hue. It had to be some sort of effect of her semblance as her sword literally returned back to her grasp. Penny intervened though and with another one her blades she completely disarmed Pyrrha once more.

Penny then brought of her blades overhead as she planned to launch another flurry of blades at the now unarmed Pyrrha. Penny sent her blades toward the flabbergasted Pyrrha and as the were about connect Pyrrha sent her arms forward a black wave expelling from her. Penny's blades were caught in whatever force Pyrrha emitted and flew back at her, her blades flailing through the air.

And that's when it happened, Penny's blades caught on her. Wait caught, it wasn't until then I realized that her blades were controlled by an extremely thin but strong wire that lead back onto her backpack. Her blades caught a wrapped around her waist and arms and she was pulled back as the blades that were thrown from her latched to the arena wall behind her. As she was pulled back her aura couldn't take it and shattered as the wires literally ripped through her being.

Penny was torn into pieces as 'she' fell the floor. The arena went silent as Pyrrha fell to her knees, not sure of what she just did. The monitors of the coliseum showed the stage in graphic detail as the contestant known as Penny was revealed to be some sort of android.

'How? Was she sentient? Or was this just an advanced model of Atlesian knight Atlas wanted to 'field test' in this tournament. But then again Ruby said this person helped her on their own will back at the docks. What in the hell is going on!?'

"This is not a tragedy." I heard a familiar voice call out over the intercoms as the screen monitors were jammed and then were replaced by a Queen chess piece with a red background. Cinder... "This was not an accident. This is what happens when you hand over your trust, your safety, your children, to men who claim to be our guardians, but are, in reality, nothing more than men. Our Academies' Headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both.

This was her move, everything on stage had to of been planned, or at least manipulated. I thought as pulled out my scroll to try to message Purpura, thankfully my scroll ran on a separate but similar network and was able to get a dial tone. 'Thanks you to Roman for that, for a no good thief he had his merits.'

"Dez what's going!?" Purpura yelled through the scroll as Cinder continued her monologue.

"She's making her move, stay with Yang! I'll get to you as soon as I can."

"Okay, be careful."

"I will, be there soon." I said as I ended the call.

"One nation's attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by another's star pupil. What need would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference.

"And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment, now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy, yet I have witnessed neither. Perhaps Ozpin felt as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded its streets. Or perhaps this was his message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting kingdom with armed forces. Honestly, I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But I know the existence of peace is fragile, and the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves.

"As someone who hails from Mistral, I can assure you the situation there is... equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are on the brink of war, yet we, the citizens, are left in the dark. So I ask you: When the first shots are fired... who do you think you can trust?" She finished as her transmission ended. The screen now back to its normal display.

The intercom staring blaring a siren as the members of the crowd start to panic.

"Alert. Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level: Nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner."

It didn't take long before utter chaos began to take place, the members of the crowd fleeing as the began to seek shelter.

"Ladies and gentlemen, please. There is no need for panic." I heard the General call out from the intercom in an attempt to dispel the chaos.

Two echoing blows from above stole everyone's attention as massive Nevermore stood atop the coliseum, using its massive beak to try to pry through the coliseum's defensive shielding. Judging by the size of the Grimm it wouldn't be long. What was worse as long as the shield held we wouldn't have access to our weapons.

It was pure anarchy as I began to run my way down towards the coliseum's stage. People were piling out of the coliseums exits, doing their best to escape as some I came up upon some of the fellow competitors from the tournament.

"What do we do!?" I heard one of the students yell.

"Call your weapon lockers here! That barrier is about to fall and the moment it does that Grimm will start ripping these people to shreds. Once we have our weapons we can bring that thing down and start to help with the evacuation!" I yelled as the students turned to me.

"And who the hell are you!?" One of the huntresses wearing sunglasses said as she walked up to me.

"I'm an associate of Professor Ozpin. And knows not the time for arguing kid. Do it!" I said as typed and swiped through my scroll until I reached to right function. I confirmed it with a pin and the locker was in it's way here.

"Well you heard him." The girl said as they all pulled out thier scrolls an followed suit.

"Warning! Safety Barriers Failing." The intercoms blared out we neared the stage. I saw a blonde hunter jump over the railings across the arena as barrier broke. The Nevermore came shooting down as collided with the stage. The force behind it flooring the newcomer and Pyrrha as it stared down its unarmed prey.

With a ear splitting shriek the avian Grimm ran towards Pyrrha. She was defenseless, nothing stopped its approach as the group of hunters and I jumped over the railing and ran towards the champion.

A red blur beat us as the Nevermore recoiled in pain as it was stabbed. Ruby stood in front of the downed Pyrrha, Penny's remaining blade in her hand held in front of her as she stood in defense of her friend.

"LEAVE HER ALONE!" I heard Ruby shout as the bird came running at her once more.

In the nick of time our lockers rained down onto the Grimm's back, flooring it it due to the unexpected assault. Ruby took a step back as the Grimm slid to halt a few feet from her. One by one we retrieved our weapons from the weakened Grimm, obviously not dead as it had yet to dissipate, but its spine was likely broken. With a desperate shriek the Nevermore raised it's head trying to stand once more. I ran my estoc along its back in a series of slashes as a redheaded huntress with a hammer ran past me. She hammered the Grimm's head back towards the ground as two of the larger huntsmen aimed their large blades at the back of the birds neck.

It's head lopped over as the Grimm now began to dissipate. I shifted my estoc back into my pistol as ran over to the rest of the group.

"Ruby, I..." Pyrrha spoke up as she held a piece of the cloth from Penny's dress. "I'm so sorry." She finished as tears fell from her face.

"Me too. But it wasn't your fault." Ruby said as she now held a face of anger.

"She's right." The blonde hunter spoke up. "Whoever was on that microphone... they're the ones that did this. And we have to make sure they don't take anyone else." He said as he handed Pyrrha her weapons.

We heard a series of growls and shrieks from above as more avian Grimm looked over the top of the coliseum.

"Griffons!" One of the hunters dressed in green said as he readied his twin gun-blades.

"Anyone got a plan of attack?" A blue haired huntsmen asked.

I felt a tug on my armor as I turned around to see Ruby standing their.

"I need your scroll." She demanded as I handed it over. With a quick motion she called her weapon locker, it landing center stage. She handed me my scroll as she ran towards her weapon. Only for Griffon to land on it on front of her with a challenging roar. We aimed our respective weapons at the Grimm but were to slow as the Griffon was floored by a gunshot.

"Students! I think it would be best for you to leave." The Professor stood proudly as he aimed his blunderbuss axe?

"But we can he-" Ruby shouted before she was cut off.

"Miss Rose! This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it if my students could live to tell about it." The doctor said as he took her fellow partners side.

With a nod Ruby agreed and pointed towards the closest exit. "Let's go!" She commanded as she turned to me.

'This is my time to prove myself, my time to show I can finally make a difference.' "Go. I'll help hold them off." I said as moved towards the two professors. Ruby hesitated briefly before nodding and joined her fellow classmates. 'It starts here.' The two professors looked confused at first but must of known of me through the headmaster.

"Alas lad one final match! Barty place your bets!" He yelled as our backs met each other, Griffons circling around their suspected pray. If this is where I was going to fall then I'm going to make sure that I go down swinging.

* * *

 **AN: Man just two chapters left now, I have to say that it's bittersweet reaching this moment. You always talk about the end of journey but don't realize how far you've come until your already there. For each of the remaining chapters it will probably take two weeks a piece to have them, work is getting extremely hectic at the moment and two weeks apiece will give me plenty of time to get them out. Until next time -MidKnight209**


	43. Chapter 43: To Believe

**Chapter 43: To Believe**

"I can feel it growing inside me.  
Something that I would never dare speak.  
Containing the anguish depletes me.  
Unleashing the anger redeems me.

"Cannot breathe, cannot breathe.  
The thoughts won't stop, I cannot breathe.  
Cannot breathe, cannot breathe.  
The hardest part was to believe." -Matt Heafy

* * *

 **Purpura & Yang**

 **Beacon Academy**

"What's going on!?" I heard Yang yell into her scroll as she finally got a hold of her teammates.

"Grimm just started coming from nowhere. Are you okay!?" I heard Blake ask from the other side of the phone call as we ran through the hallways. Some of the fellow Beacon students doing the same as they gathered their fellow teammates and weapons.

"We're fine. Is Ruby with you? She's not answering her Scroll." Yang asked with worry in her voice. Dezmond always said Yang was extremely protective of her sister, and it was showing. It wasn't a bad thing, from what I've heard Ruby was something very dear to her after Yang's mother issues. It was admirable, someone willing to give up their childhood so that her sister could have one.

I was awakened from my thoughts as I nearly tripped as we rounded another corner, the stairs just around another corner.

"No, she isn't." I heard Blake reply as Yang came to a halt. "Yang, I'm sure she's fine. She's our leader. She can take care of herself." Yang curled her fist into a ball and took a deep breath.

"Right." Yang replied in a serious tone as we took of once more. "I'm headed to the docks near the courtyard. The White Fang are releasing Grimm into the school!" Yang said as we leaped in the stairwell instead if going the stairs. We landed in a crouch and pushed open the doors of the nearest exit.

"The White Fang is here!?" Blake yelled as a creep immediately turned towards us. Yang reared a a fist back and put it down as we looked at the now battlefield. "Yang!" Blake yelled worried.

"Ugh! Gotta go! Be careful!" Yang replied as she put away her scroll.

Gunfire and the sounds of screams immediately filled our eyes. The Atlesian Army was doing it's best to control the threat but their was just so many Grimm. It was a miracle no Grimm have managed to breach the school itself. In the distance I could see bullhead doing low flyby's dropping off as many Grimm as they could before they were shot down. The Atlesian Knights managed to form a wall near the docks and were holding for the time being. It just raised one question.

"How did they capture the Grimm? This doesn't make any sense." Yang said as we ran over to help a group of fellow huntsmen paired up with some of the Atlesian soldiers.

"What's going!" I asked as one of the soldiers turned my way.

"Right now our primary objective is to reach the CCT, if that falls we lose all communication between the Kingdoms, our secondary objective is to help the evacuation process in any way." He said as I took his side and we began opening fire on an incoming pack of Beowolves. Yang joined as as she launched a couple shells from her gauntlets and the pack fell.

"What should we do Yang?" I asked.

"We help them, most of our classmates here are more than capable of taking down Grimm, if that towers falls though it will be bad." Yang said as she pumped a fresh round in each of her gauntlets. "Come on the citizens of Vale need our help more then some armed huntsmen."

"Right. Let's go!"

* * *

 **Slate**

 **Amity Coliseum**

"Another one on your right Barty!" I heard Professor Port yell as the Doctor responded. In a spinning motion he unleashed a large volley of flames that covered the Griffon as it came swooping down towards the man. With a jump the Doctor cleared the Grimm as it skidded across the stage towards me. I jumped in the air came back down with Mortem aimed at it's neck, as I reached the apex of ascent I came down shoving my blade as far into the Grimm's hide as it could go, I felt the Griffon's tough hide as it's skin met my hand, my blade penetrating all the way to the handle. I pulled my blade out as the Grimm began to deteriorate.

It was the first I've fought a Griffon, I remembered the Grimm studies class I took my freshman year, they were Grimm that were supposed to reside deep with Grimm controlled territories, "The Badlands." They were a lot tougher than the average Grimm, they were still as reckless as the Grimm but they had the mass to compensate for it, plus they could fly which was starting to get annoying as another group began to encircle us once more.

"Damn it there holding us up! We need to get to the city!" I yelled as fired a pair of my shots at one of the griffon's which annoyed it enough to stop flying in a pattern at come directly at me. The Grimm neared and I held my blade ready but it was intercepted by a axe to its neck. The Grimm killed over as Port removed his weapon of choice and fired another volley into to the swarm. Another griffon fell is it was lit ablaze by his weapon.

"Hah-ha! Another two for I lad!" The man called out as the Grimm's numbers eventually started to dwindle. "I believe our ally is correct Barty, it's time to wrap this up!" Port yelled as Oobleck looked to him and gave him a nod.

"Young man I do suggest you take cover and cover your ears as well." The doctor told me as I followed his instructions. I ran towards a ruined portion of the stage and slid behind a slab of metal. "Now Peter!" The doctor yelled as he quickly appeared by my side.

I looked to the large man as I saw him take in a deep breath and released it in a savage yell. The ground crumpled around him as a shock wave emitted from the man. The encircling Grimm were ripped to shreds as the man fell to a knee. The coast was clear as we ran over to the man who with Oobleck's help stood once more. "Unfortunately I'm not as young as I once was Barty, that was merely a warm up in my youth."

"Ah nonsense, you performed as remarkable as ever!" Oobleck said with a pat to the larger man's back. "Come now we have a safe zone to establish!" He said as we took of towards the nearest exit, just a handful a bullheads still present.

Next to them stood a more militarized version of Bullhead, soldiers running into as it prepared to launch. "Room for three more?" The doctor asked the soldier that was in charge.

"Of course, we reinforcing the safe zone near the Vale Docks." The man said as he ran towards the cockpit and bellowed some orders. The ship took off as several transports along side us did the same.

'Just hang on everyone, were coming.'

* * *

 **Purpura & Yang**

 **Vale**

"This way! The Knights and Paladins can hold them off, we need to get to the CCT now!" One the soldiers yelled as I buried both of my daggers into the back of an Ursa's neck. The beast falling as I removed my weapons and rolled of it, slashing a creep that tried to sneak a cheap shot a wounded soldier. We were a small group just barely over a dozen but at this point every person counted. We ran towards the city as our robotic counter parts formed a line and opened fire on the incoming Grimm.

We followed the soldiers as we rounded the corner of a building and stopped to catch our breath, all of us were already exhausted and after just a few seconds we took off again. We didn't have to rest, not yet, not until we stopped this invasion. Just ahead was another Paladin supported by half-a-dozen Knights firing at a large Deathstalker. We started to run past them but as we did so the robots went rigid before their screens changed to a deep red. As that happened they turned to face us and aimed.

"WHAT!?" Our de-facto leader said as the Knights opened fire.

Several rounds ripped through the man and a soldier to his right as they were mercilessly gunned down by the Knights. I dove behind a piece of the ruined street as Yang and other remained soldiers returned fire. I slid Snapshot from my back and fired as well as took out the mechs. One of the remaining soldiers ran up to their leader and checked their vitals. "Come on Jenkins, you can pull through!" The man yelled as tried to give CPR to his fellow soldier and probable good friend. "Come on damn it! BREATH!" The man yelled as one of his fellow soldiers pulled him back.

"Their gone man, w-we gotta go." The man said as he tried to control him.

"Piece of shit metal the man said as he grabbed his rifle and began to empty his magazine into the closest Knight.

"Let's go." Yang said into my ear as she grabbed me by the shoulder and pulled me towards our destination. They helped us get this far but at this point they were only going to slow us down. Unfortunately not everyone has strong aura's or aura at all. We needed to find more her classmates if we were going to have chance at pushing back the Grimm, White Fang, and now Knights and Paladins.

We were fortunate that the Paladin was already fighting that Deathstalker or we could of been in some serious danger. How did they get the mechs under their control though was this someone up pulling the strings, there was just so many questions and not enough answers. After another couple minutes of running we reached the Courtyard.

Several of the teams we saw in the tournament were fighting the Grimm and a pair of Atlesian Knights, there were so many though and the huntsmen and huntresses were doing their best not to spread themselves too thin. Several of them were grouped near each other holding wounds they received. Yang and I ran up to an injured duo.

"Ren and Nora are you okay!?" Yang asked as she knew the students.

"The Knights and Paladins just turned on us, were doing are best to hold them off but we can't stand." The man said as he held side, gritting his teeth in pain.

"Jaune and Pyrrha ran off with the Headmaster, I think their going to get more help." The orange haired girl said as she held her ribs doing her best to stand before falling to a knee.

A dark skinned green haired teen ran up to us he saw Nora fall. "Sage right?" Yang asked the male.

He replied with a nod before shouldering the two wounded huntsmen. "I'm getting these two to the docks, help them hold of the Grimm and Paladins here." He said as he took off towards the docks, a smaller red-headed male by his side.

A shadow covered us for a brief moment as we looked up. A massive dragon sailed through sky as ooze fell from it. Creeps crawling from the black miasma it created.

"What the hell is that thing!?" I yelled as neared to center of Vale.

"Damn thing just keeps circling around!" A blonde monkey faunus yelled as he fought of a Beowolf with a staff. The Grimm eventually crumpling after several impacts to its head.

"Weiss! You're okay! Have you heard from Ruby?" I heard Yang yell as she spotted her teammate. The said teammate leaning on her weapon for support as she was out of breath. Weiss shook her head side to side as she reformed her composure. "What about Blake?"

"She went after an Alpha" Weiss said as she pointed back towards the school. "and some members of the White Fang."

"You look for Ruby. We'll meet up with Blake." Yang as she took off in a sprint towards the school, myself just a step behind her. We hopped over a fallen wall as a group of White Fang members were issuing out orders.

Yang ran straight in and fired a round from her gauntlet as she impacted the ground. The members flew away from the epicenter as I caught one of them with with a kick. His head hit a wall hard and he fell to the ground unconscious. Another Fang member ran at me with his sword and threw a sloppy slash at me, I leaned to the right to dodge his strike and threw a kick into his ribs. He hunched over from the blow and I spun right and caught his chin with the handle of my dagger flooring the man. I looked to my right and saw Yang send a member flying to the air with an uppercut before she kicked him into a group of members approaching.

"Blake!" I heard her yell as we neared one of the academies buildings. Another member came charging as I kicked him back, his stumbling was eventually stopped as Yang landed a hay maker to his gut launching him away.

"Blake where are you!?" I heard Yang yell again as she desperately looked for her partner.

"AH!" We heard someone yell out in pain as we looked to the direction. Inside the cafeteria to our right a red-haired stood over Blake as he pulled his katana out her stomach. Blake clenching her stomach as he removed it. I sheathed my blades and aimed rifle.

"GET AWAY FROM HER!" Yang said as she yelled and busted into an inferno. She leaped right at the man with her right arm cocked back. The man stood with his blade at the ready as she approached. I fired my weapon at his midsection as Yang collided with him. As the man swung at Yang my round hit his forearm causing his swing to overextend. Yang's punch connected as his blade lopped off a chunk of her and the man was sent tumbling through a pair of tables. The man pushed himself from the rubble with murderous look on his face.

I jumped through the window and opened fired at the man as Yang carried Blake away. The man withdrew his blade as he blocked each of my rounds, his blade growing a bright red with each round he stopped. "Another traitor I see? Worry not there's more than enough room in the ground for your likes." He said as he took of towards me in a blur, I threw my rifle to the side as I pulled out my daggers in the knick of time. I held them crossed in front of me as I blocked his strike, I was losing ground fast as he held the blade and pushed down quickly overpowering me. He pushed me into a crouch until I heard Yang fire a round from her gauntlet. The man disengaged his blade and stopped her round as well, his blade glowing red once more. I saw my opening a kicked the man forward as he turned his back to me.

He stumbled forward, but had to regain his balance as Yang met him head on, throwing a series of punches as they traded blows. Yang threw a small combination at the man but he blocked every strike before catching her with blast from his shotgun he had apparently hidden in his sheathe. She stumbled back and went to block as he came with an overhead strike, I came from the side and landed a leaping kick as he completely tried to ignore me again. His missed his blow and Yang made him pay by sending a punch into his gut.

He slid further into the dinning hall, using his katana to stop himself. He grit his teeth and took a stance once more, Yang and I spared each other a glance before nodding and taking the offensive.

Yang fired her gauntlets behind herself and rocketed toward the man with a heavy right, he spun right evading her attack and kicked her in the back sending Yang to the ground. I jumped in throwing a series of slashes his way as he blocked every one of my strikes, before catching my with a slash across my arm as his blade grew red. His blade cut right threw my aura as the slash across my arm began to bleed. He followed his strike as he aimed his sheathe at my midsection and fired. The shot caught me in the chest and launched my back into a table as it broke beneath me. I slowly pushed myself up as my wound began to sting, the blood still trickling from it.

"Yang his blade cuts through our aura!" I yelled as took a fighting stance one more. He fired his sheathe once more but I was ready this time as I blocked the blast with my daggers, I wasn't ready enough though because the force of the shot knocked me on ass. Yang had the same idea and she ducked beneath one of his over head strikes, she pushed his blade further upwards as she passed beneath it and caught him in the ribs. It wasn't enough though as he took the blow and sent a knee into her chest causing Yang to hunch over as he fired another blast of his sheathe point blank into her stomach. Yang fell backwards as her aura broke, holding her stomach as she cried out in pain as she tried to stand, falling back to the ground.

The man walked towards her raising his blade above his head as he reached her. I grabbed my dagger and activated the lightning dust on it and threw it. As he swung down my blade caught him between the shoulder blades and activated. Electricity coursed through body as his katana slipped through his grasp. It hit the ground loudly as he fell to a knee, he knocked Yang out with a kick to her chin and then turned to face me, grabbing his katana as he angrily walked over.

"You don't get it do you?! You protect these lesser humans and turn on your own. If you're going to fight for them then you can die for them too!" He yelled as he ran at me in a blur of red. I held out my dagger and engaged the ice dust in it. I blocked his strike as the ice dust activated and held our blades locked against each other. I threw a series of kicks into his legs as his left on finally buckled, I then hand-sprung and launched both of my feet into his chest. He launched backwards and hit the ground hard. He hit the ground with his fist and pushed himself off as he ran towards me. I removed my dagger from him and waited for him to make the first mistake.

He came with a high kick and I ducked below it and spun inside his guard and landed a punch to his gut. He responded with a kick to my midsection, I shook it off the best I could and threw a spinning kick to his left side. He blocked it with his hands and I tried to follow up with a straight dagger thrust. My blade slid along his ribs and past him, the blade cutting through his aura as it broke. He fought through the pain though and grabbed my wrist holding my dagger with his right hand and with his left he grabbed my right shoulder and pushed forward.

"AHH!" I yelled in pain as I heard felt my shoulder pop out of place as I heard an audible pop. He forced me to my knees as he pushed down and ripped my dagger from my grasp. I screamed again as he shoved my own weapon into my shoulder blade and twisted.

I continued to scream as a burning sensation filled my back as he twisted the blade more. I arched back as he finally removed the blade and grabbed my neck from behind. He pressed the sharp edge of my blade against my throat. "We have no room for the weak like you." He said as I felt the blade start to sink into my throat.

'I'm sorry Dez.'

Until I heard an audible crack. The pressure against my throat released and I fell forward onto my elbows as I took loud gasp. My left arm clenching my neck as I felt the small cut across it. I looked up to my left to see Blake taking a knee as she lent me a hand.

"Thank you" I said as I took it. Gambol Shroud was sheathed in her other hand as it had a bit of red on it. The man laid on the floor unconscious as Blake landed the battles final blow.

"No, thank you." She said as the burning began again in my shoulder. "If you two didn't show up I-I.."

"Anything for you Blake." Yang said as Blake turned to face the blonde slowly pushing herself up.

"Yang!" Blake said as she ran to her partners side. Yang smothered her partner into a hug as the two began to cry in each others embrace.

"I'm just glad you're okay." Yang said through her tears.

"Come on we need to get to the safe zone, the school isn't safe." Blake said as she walked up to the red-haired man. She spotted a fallen Atlesian Soldier and pulled a set of handcuffs off him. She locked the his arms together to heavy piece of re-bar that laid in the dinning hall. "We'll be back for you." She said as Yang helped me outside.

"You alright?" She asked as I shook my head.

"Moving my right arm at all is excruciating." I said as we reached the courtyard.

As we got there the same huntsmen from earlier ran to us. "Are you guys alright?" Weiss asked as she lead the group.

"Purpura and Blake need assistance." Yang told the group.

"Yatsu, Fox carry them!" A girl with sunglasses and a beret ordered. The humongous male known as Yatsu grabbed and held me over his shoulder as the dark skinned male known as Fox fireman carried Blake.

"Come on let's go!" Weiss said as we took off.

* * *

"We're here!" Yatsu said in a deep voice as he gently laid me down. Fox did the same with Blake as one of the Atlas soldiers ran over between us.

"What's hurt?" He asked as he unslung a medical bag from his back.

"My shoulder blade, knife ruptured it." I eeked out as he nodded and grabbed an aerosol that was filled with some blue liquid.

"This is just a small amount of ice dust, should numb the hell out of it." He said as sprayed the dust onto my wound. I screamed as the overwhelming feeling of cold flooded my wound but I eventually felt relief as I felt the burning sensation in my arm being fulling replaced by the cold.

"Thank you." I said as the man began to bandage my arm and then ran over to Blake. Poor guy he probably had his hands full with all the people that had have to be wounded.

"Did anyone see Dezmond?" I asked the group of hunters that helped me.

The hare faunus seem puzzled for a second before she remembered something. "Was the huntsmen in all black with the sniper rifle?" She asked in a thick accent.

"Yeah where is he!?" I asked her.

"Last I saw him he was with our Professors." She said as she pointed to a large man in red and another with green hair. I nodded and walked over to the two hunters.

"Excuse me but have to two seen Dezmond!?" I asked as I reached them.

"Oh the tenacious young lad!? He was with us no longer than fifteen minutes ago. As soon as we landed he took off towards the CCT in a ferocious gait!" He said as in too jolly of a manner for the situation.

'He's okay...'

* * *

 **Slate**

 **Beacon Tower**

I ran towards into the main doors of the Beacon as I heard explosions below me. I didn't want to lie to the two professors but they wouldn't of let me go if I told them I was after the Fall Maiden. She had to protected and I wasn't sure if they were enlightened by the headmaster or not.

I reached the elevator a blur a fire roared up through it, the force behind it knocking me back.

'No.' I thought as I looked into the now ruined elevator. 'S-she did it... She killed Amber...' I though as I heard the doors behind me crash open.

"Pyrrha!?" I said as she looked at me in confusion. "What are you doing here!?"

"I have to stop her, she killed her and I'm the only one who can stop her now." She said as tears ran down her face.

"Then I'm coming with you."

* * *

 **AN: Wells shit that was kind of late. A LOT LATE. Sorry, work has been absolutely relentless but that wont stop me. Well now I'm getting all emotional, the final chapter is next. Thanks to everyone for sticking along for the ride or just passing through. Also Volume 4 trailer Hype in just over a day. Can't wait! Until next and one final time for this story. -MidKnight209**


	44. Chapter 44: Bring Me Home

**Chapter 44: Bring Me Home**

* * *

"I close my eyes and count to ten.

The seconds turn to years and slowly I've been recognizing everything.

Through an adolescent mind.

It's so dark here.

For the first time I feel alive.

But you're not here.

I can't see a thing.

I'm lying in my bed, I can't stop thinking.

It's driving me insane.

Never got to say goodbye.

It's still dark here.

And for the first time I feel alive.

But you're not here.

I'll live on and carry your name.

And be what you always thought I could be.

I hope we meet at the end.

But I'll never forgive the world for taking my best friend." -Phil Bozeman

 **Beacon Docks**

 **Purpura**

* * *

Footsteps.

That was the only sound that filled my ears as my feet met the pavement. Left, right. Left, right. That familiar rhythm took over as made my way towards the CCT.

"Purpura!"

'That IDIOT! Why does he always try to do everything on his own!? Does he not trust us? Does Dezmond not trust me?' I thought as tears began to fill my eyes and leak down my face.

"Purpura!"

It was blurry as I ran forward and thanks to my lack of sight I didn't see the broken cinder block catch my right foot. I stumbled forward and let out a cry as I landed on my right shoulder. I clutched my arm as I scooted over to wall and leaned my back into it. I sunk my head as I let my emotions overtake me. My sobs clear as day as I heard footsteps approach me.

"Damn it where are you going!? You're in no condition to fight, none of us are!" I heard Yang yelling as I looked up at her, her red eyes staring at mine.

"I'm sorry." I said with a sniffle and tried to push myself up. Instead Yang grabbed my by my waist and helped me up. She was breathing deeply, her eyes winced open as she was clearly having trouble breathing, no doubt her earlier wounds catching up with her as her eyes melted back into a light lavender.

"You can't be doing this, I know you want to help him but he's clearly made up his mind. Believe in him a little eh. You guys have got this far." Yang said as she pulled me into a small embrace, her hand running through my hair to help calm me down.

And it worked.

"You're right." I said as I broke from her embrace. "But we can't just do nothing, as long as I still have pulse I can fight. That's what Dezmond told me once, and damn it he's right." I said as unsheathed one of my daggers with my left hand.

"Damn your stubborn... But I understand, if it were Ruby I'd do the same thing. Let's regroup with the others and we can go from there okay?" Yang said as she extended her gauntlets. "Come on, we'll be lucky if the Grimm aren't already on the way."

* * *

 **Dezmond**

 **Beacon Tower**

"I can get us to the top." Pyrrha said as she walked past me and into the now ruined elevator shaft. I was going to ask her how but the look she gave me hinted at 'shut up and follow me.' So I did without argument.

"Hey I know we don't know each other that well but we need to work together against her. She's dangerous and I don't know your fighting style, so it's best if we just try to play of each other and attack at any opening we're able to create." I told her as she nodded in agreeance.

As I stepped into the elevator I truly saw its condition. The shaft itself was ruined, Cinder somehow able to burn right through with what the new powers she now fully enveloped, if you could call stealing enveloping. I still didn't understand how someone like these maidens could exist. Dust was one thing, but magic? It doesn't make sense, how can someone, something have that much power at their fingertips. 'I guess that's why they called it magic, there simply was no explanation.'

But that wasn't the problem though. If someone could harness such power how could they be defeated. This Cinder person not only defeated Amber but she now had the powers that made Amber so powerful. So just how powerful was she now.

I was going to find out soon enough as I saw Pyrrha go into deep concentration. Suddenly the elevator around began to glow in a dark hue. The edges of the contraption bending in slightly as it responded to her semblance. Finally with one last effort she slammed her foot into the floor and the elevator rocketed towards to the tower. Metal grinding against metal as Pyrrha willed the elevator towards our destination.

'Finally after all of this time, I would finally be able to make a difference. Without this woman coercing the White Fang, Roman, and hell whatever happened to Atlas' tech things could go back to the way they were. What was so wrong on Remnant that she would enjoy causing all of this chaos, this bloodshed.' It was infuriating, knowing someone so fueled by their quest for hunger that they would do anything to attain. No matter how many people lost their homes, loved one's, hell their sense of security. There was no place for this kind of 'being' on Remnant.

'Cinder HAS to go.'

That thought echoed in my head as the elevator door was forced open. Pyrrha ran ahead ad threw her shield like a discus at our target. Cinder smugly leaned out of the way as Pyrrha's shield banked of the wall and back to her with the help of her semblance. I came out of the elevator hammering the trigger of Mortem, emptying the magazine in just over a second. Again Cinder just absorbed all of my rounds as she super heated herself with her powers.

I took Pyrrha's left side as I slammed a new magazine home and shifted it to my blade.

"Oh... Now I wasn't expecting you." Cinder said with a hint of playfulness to her voice. "No matter you fall alongside Ozpin's champion.

"Let's do this!" I said to Pyrrha doing my best to ignore anything Cinder had to say to me. Nothing she had to say now would have any relevance.

I went left and Pyrrha mirrored me. Cinder seemed more interested in Pyrrha as she turned towards the red head. Pyrrha came in swinging her blades in two low swipes, Cinder using her new abilities quickly propelled backwards and towards me. I came forward in a thrust but she at the last moment leaned out of the way and sent a palm into my side. I was thrown over what was Ozpin's desk and pushed myself up as Pyrrha was already throwing another series of stabs and swipes at Cinder. My partner was unsuccessful as Cinder either dodged or blocked all her strikes. After another low swing Cinder countered with a heel to Pyrrha's chin launching her next to me.

"Is this the so called invincible girl and the young hotshot in the White Fang? Disappointing." Cinder said as her hand began to a blazing yellow.

She fired a wave of flames right at us as we both dove to the right. Pyrrha landed in a roll and ran right for Cinder, her shield held in front. Cinder redirected her flames towards Pyrrha and they met her shield, flames obscuring around her. With the brief window I had I quickly un-slung my rifle. I brought up the rifle and fired.

My round blew past Pyrrha and into the torso of Cinder. She was knocked back against the window, the force of the round causing the glass to fracture around her. With our first true opening Pyrrha ran forward throwing a series of slashes towards Cinder's midsection. A couple landed and Cinder was forced to throw out a wave of flames in every direction.

I shielded my face briefly before bolting my round and firing another. This time Cinder formed a thick chunk of glass before her and my round connected. The glass blew into pieces, covering the room with it's shrapnel. I bolted another and fired, Cinder blocking again as Pyrrha ran into her once more to engage her. They traded blows as I threw my rifle to my backside and ran forward with Mortem in hand.

Pyrrha was doing well now that we managed catch Cinder off-guard. Another slash landed across Cinders chest causing her to flinch, Pyrrha saw her opportunity and squared up with her shield held in front and dropped her shoulder.

Cinder hit the same window as Pyrrha leaped off her feet and put all of her weight into her shield bash. The weakened creaked then broke as Cinder fell out of it. I ran up to Pyrrha who pushed herself up as she began to look over. It was then that I caught something in the corner of my eye. I turned right and saw a massive Dragon barreling towards the tower.

"Get down!" I yelled as I dove into Pyrrha and tackled her to the ground. As we hit the tower exploded above and around us, a bright green light clouded our vision as the rubble. The Dragon Grimm showed no sign of slowing down as it kept on flying back towards the city as if nothing had happened.

As we pushed ourselves up for what was probably the fifth time in the last two minutes we saw a yellow blur streak up to the tower. It was Cinder, she just levitating just mere feet away from the now ruined tower of Beacon. Her eyes glowing a bright yellow as flames emanated from her being. As she stepped onto the tower she released a flame that carried along the ground, as if it were there lying in wait.

Again Pyrrha and I were separated and basically back to square one. Well if square one had a pissed of fire demon from the get go. I fired my pistol at Cinder to distract her but the low caliber rounds didn't faze her in the slightest as she practically ignored them. Pyrrha had the same idea as she fired with her carbine. At least Cinder responded to her attacks as she held a wall of flames to melt the rounds before they had a chance to hit her.

As quickly as I could I grabbed my rifle and fired straight from the hip. The force of the recoil knocked me off balance but the round at least staggered Cinder, her flames not strong enough to stop the high-calibered round. I motioned to chamber another round but with a flash of light Cinder was upon me. Her hand glowing a molten red as she swung down at me. I did my best to dodge but I had no choice but to block with my rifle.

Her hand sliced through my rifle as if it wasn't even in front of me and connected with chest as I fell flat on my back, two halves of my rifle flying around me. Pyrrha ran to my rescue this time as she landed a clean blow on Cinder's back. Cinder took the hit as she fell forward, her hand shined yellow again as she readied a strike towards Pyrrha, I saw my window and in a spinning motion I landed a sweeping that knocked Cinder to the floor. She released her flames and it enveloped the floor of the tower. I rolled onto my stomach to avoid the brunt of the flames but my back and sides were a lit with flame as I felt my aura break.

The true heat of flame overwhelmed me as I began to roll to put out the blazing fire. I continued rolling until I hit what remained of one the tower walls. The pain was excruciating as I cracked an eye open to see the situation.

Pyrrha had the upper hand on Cinder but it felt like Cinder was just tanking everything that Pyrrha could throw at her. As young as Pyrrha was she was an immensely skilled fighter, she outclassing Cinder in her fluid fighting style, using every bit of her semblance to keep her edge over Cinder.

But it just wasn't enough. Pyrrha had probably one of the most useful semblance I could ever imagine. I mean magnetism, what wasn't made out of metal these days? But it wasn't magic, something so powerful in the right hands, so unfair...

Pyrrha landed a blow across Cinder's face and tried to follow up with another but Cinder caught it with her hand imbued with flame and snapped it into pieces. Pyrrha spun with the intent to land a hit with her shield but Cinder countered with a low kick, causing Pyrrha to fall over and Cinder landed a hard kick to the top of Pyrrha's head, her chin smashed against the ground as her aura broke.

Cinder formed to glass blades out of mid-air and circled the downed spartan. Pyrrha's tried to push her self up but she was met with a slash against her back knee. She tried to stand regardless of her wound but the moment she put weight on her leg it buckled and she fell to a knee.

I couldn't stand to watch anymore as put everything into standing up. My teeth grinding against one another as my left leg wobbled beneath me. Cinder held a bow to Pyrrha front as she began to notch an arrow. I ran forward my leg shaking as I had an opening towards her back left, she all but forgetting me during her fight with Pyrrha. I wasn't going to make it in time and I decided to run towards Pyrrha instead.

In one motion I dove and triggered my semblance. The area around me flooded in white as I felt a sharp puncture in my chest. I opened my eyes to see Cinder covering her face, obviously affected by the sudden increase of light. On my right Ruby of all people kneeled on the tower's edge wide eyed.

"Ruby! Get Pyrrha out here now!" I yelled as Ruby without question ran forward and grabbed her schoolmate. She disappeared into a blur of red petals as she leaped of the edge of the tower. Her friend in tow.

With trouble once more I stood and faced Cinder as she finally regained her vision. I reached into my chest plate and ripped the arrow out, it shatters into pieces as it hit the ground. 'That's why you always have a plan B, thank Oum for body armor.'

"You have been a thorn in my side for too long!" Cinder spat with venom as her eyes began to glow once more.

I readied myself as I held my blade loosely. She made the first move as fired a heat of flame towards my head. I ducked underneath it and charged forward as getting within her guard was the only real chance I had. My blade met hers as she opted to remain using her glass blades. I through forward a series of thrusts which she managed to block but I had her on the back foot as I continued to stay on the attack. After I glanced her on her shoulder she came with a spinning slice as her blades took a red hue as her flames coursed through them. I went as low as I could and landed a blow into her ribs which caused her to hunch over and I caught her with a left uppercut.

She fell onto her back as a black hue around her shattered.

'I broke her aura! I can take her!'

I ran forward with renewed vigor as landed a strike across her side. Her clothing ripping as my blade ran through it. I followed with a knee to her gut as I was finally turning the tides, as skilled as Cinder was with her maiden power's she had one Achilles heel. Her stamina wasn't great. If you could just outlast her barrage you'd have a shot, albeit a small shot. But a shot was a shot damn it.

In a panic she released flames beneath her, but without an aura she was equally open. She let out a small scream as the flames burnt her, a feeling she wasn't familiar with. The the flames reached me, my already burnt side was burned was more as I fell to a knee. We were both on our last leg. And both of us knew it.

Without every ounce of strength remaining in my body a ran toward her. She not having the energy I did stood near the edge of the tower and held her blades before her. I reached back and threw everything into one final thrust as she did the same.

* **SQUEELCH***

I felt my blade pass through air as I felt a hot sensation ram through my chest as we collided. I looked down to see her blade firmly planted through my torso as it protruded from my back. She began to twist her blade as I fell to a knee.

I gasped for air but it was no use as it began to flood with my blood, practically the same as drowning. With a final twist she pulled her blade out as fell to both of my knees.

 _'No.. I was so close, Fuchsia, Purpura...'_

"I'm sorry." I whispered as blood began to fill my mouth and leak out. The edges of my vision began to contract in black. With a last effort my blade shifted into my pistol as Cinder took a step back and kicked me off the ledge of Beacon Tower. I aimed and fired.

 ***BANG***

The sound of my weapon fire went filled my ears. And then it all went black.

* * *

 **Purpura**

 **Beacon Academy**

"He was up there? Are you sure!?" I asked Ruby as she landed with her classmate Pyrrha in her grips. The redhead wounded and unable to walk.

"Yeah, but he was hurt. We need to get back up there!" She yelled as Weiss helped Pyrrha to her feet.

"We need to get out of here! Vale's huntsmen should be on the way! Not to mention our professors." Weiss argued.

"Yeah but!" Ruby started but was cut off as a pair of collisions brought us back on guard. I readied my daggers as we rounded a corner of the tower.

Cinder was on the ground before us we ran up to her. A bullet was lodged into her forehead and she was gone.

"Dezmond did it! I can't beli-" I started before I saw another body.

"Dez..." I said as I dropped my weapons and ran forward to his side. "Dezmond come on! Wake up!" I wailed as pulled and tugged against his body. A dark red seeping his chest.

I heard a series of footsteps behind me as I felt a hand grasp my shoulder. "I'm sorry kid he's gone." A gruff voice said as I turned to see Ozpin's colleague Qrow standing.

"I-I..." I said as I felt a series of arms pull me into an embrace. I cried and cried until there was nothing left.

"Come on kids, James and Glynda are handling that Dragon. Let the professionals handle the clean up, you've done more than enough for students." Qrow said as he helped us toward Vale.

We stopped them Dez. But at what cost.

* * *

 **AN: Well here it is. The next to final chapter. I will be releasing an epilogue immediately after this chapter as I felt that this didn't wrap up everything I wanted to. Man this was a long time coming. Thank you to everyone that followed, fav'd and reviewed my story. (Especially Hero). There wont be a after-note on the next chapter so it's been great everyone. I have another story planned once Volume 4 finishes because I want to do something fresh and I can't wait to see all the world-building they lay our for us. So everyone Until Next Time -MidKnight209**


	45. Chapter 45: Epilogue

**Chapter 45: Epilogue**

* * *

 _ **Four Years Later**_

 **Purpura**

 **Beacon Academy**

* * *

"It's been a while hasn't it? I'm sorry it's been so long since my last visit but you know how things can get. I finally finished though! I'm a full fledged huntress now Dez!" I said to the Plaque behind Beacon Academy as I laid down a bouquet of flowers on his namesake.

"I'm surprised they let me enroll into Beacon Academy when I did. I was 18 and I thought the year difference would of forced to go elsewhere to follow my dream. Our dream."

"The White Fang has finally disbanded, it took long enough. After they arrested Adam they just seemed to fall in on itself, they had no who wanted to take the reigns after the failure at Beacon. The started to faction into smaller groups and that led into in-fighting among each other. Soon enough they weren't a problem anymore."

"And who knew, once they fell a knew organization took their place, but this time they were funded on peaceful intentions. The White Lotus is small but it's growing, a step in the right direction. Ruby's teammate is actually one of the founding members surprising enough." I said I cleaned the plaque of any remaining debris.

"I never got to tell you thank you. For just talking to me when we were still involved in the White Fang, if you never took me under your wing then I could of been another faceless statistic like the rest."

"Thank you for being a friend, a lover, someone that could count on me when I couldn't even count on myself."

"Thank you for helping me believe."

"I gotta go now Dez, my first mission as a huntress is tonight. Don't worry my team will be right there with me. Team PERL is too closely knit to not have each others backs."

"Until next time Dez."


End file.
